Wild Time with Wilde: Renovated
by Chesterization
Summary: "What about Judy?" Black ears twitched in irritation. "What about her? Nick, she is with them. 'Them' Nick..." "She is different...I can't just leave her behind." Wild Time's with Wilde: A Zistopia fic chock-full of abnormal twists, strange descriptions, and creative freedom. *Edited by the talented ADeadMissionary.*
1. Chapter 1

**Acknowledgement:**

I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. You can check out his profile and stories at your own leisure.

www fanfiction net / u/ 1160012/

 **Disclaimer:**

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.

* * *

" _Zootopia, a place where anyone can be anything." Whoever came up with that tagline is a genius. No doubt about it. It has a nice ring to it. It's a digestible soundbite. And of course, it can be put on everything imaginable. Banners, bumper stickers, buttons, postcards. Heck, I once saw it tattooed across a mammal's back._

 _However, those seven words could not convey the whole truth. The whole phrase should read something like: "Zootopia, a place where anyone can be anything, as long as no regulations stand in your way."_

 _Why? Because Zootopia has one pain-in-the-neck regulation for predators. Pun very much intended. Although, most prey think that once you get zapped, you don't feel anything. Anyhow, the facts still stand. We, predators, got left out of the whole, 'anything' part, since we were born into the city._

A loud screeching and a shout snapped Nick out of his inner musing. He turned to see a truck's grill only a few inches away. "Hey fox, watch where you're going!"

The fox shook his head, dumbfounded. He quickly turned his head toward the signal lights. "What are you talking about?" He pointed at the signal, a green-lit outline of three ungulates walking. "The light says _walk_.".

The horse behind the wheel didn't care. "Get out of the way. I got things to do."

Nick gritted his teeth. "I was just-Agh!" The collar around his neck emitted a jolt of electricity. It essentially told him the same thing as the horse. _Do not argue. MOVE!_ After a frustrated grunt, Nick obeyed. He quickly ran towards the sidewalk. His hands hugged his suitcase tight. The last thing he needed was for his ten-year-old hunk-a-junk to choose that moment to fall apart.

With the road clear, the horse was free to get his truck going. He stomped the gas pedal, hoping that would somehow prevent his boss from yelling at him.

Nick let out a sigh and pressed the button on the signal. The lights on the other end gave him permission to cross. He looked around, just to make sure that all the cars were actually stopped behind the thin, faded white line on the road. All the vehicles did as the system told, though a few of the drivers behind the wheels honked at Nick's hesitation.

As Nick was about to cross, a hamster convertible screeched to a stop before him. Reflex and the shock collar pulled his leg back. _Well, that's one Mouse-slaughter charge averted,_ Nick thought. Then he noticed the tiny convertible had a passenger. _Make that two charges._ The little car moved forward, making way for Nick. The fox tried to put his foot down and, no surprise, the little convertible suddenly reversed, forcing him to jerk his foot back. "Hey!"

The car then moved forward, the two hamsters giving him taunting grins. Knowing their trick too well, Nick decided to take the high road. He ignored both of them and took the path that would lead him up a hill. Sure, it would take longer, but he would not take any chances with these _strapping young lads_. Seeing Nick turn away, the two hamsters proceeded to give each other a hi-five and let out high-pitched laughs. It seemed, making the day of this fox a little worse was somehow making their pointless youth that more fulfilling.

" _Yup, I did feel something there."_ He thought as the small car drove off. _"But hey, whatever, Dad wouldn't want to see me getting worked up like this."_

(Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

 **Wild Times with Wilde: Renovated**

(Song ends)

 **Chapter 1: Broken light**

Nick walked along the sidewalk, taking in his surroundings. He was in a rather nice neighborhood, consisting mostly of townhouses pressed closely together. Spotting a mailbox with a name on it, he quickly turned and followed the path to the door. He put on his best PR grin and pressed the doorbell. It was less than a minute before a burly ram answered the door.

"Good afternoon, Mister Mutton, I'm Nick Wilde from-" The door slammed shut. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. "Okay, let's try again."

Nick was soon at another door. He pressed the doorbell and waited, his PR grin firmly in place.

Nick began as soon as the door opened. "I'm Nick Wilde from John Wilde and-" _Slam!_ The door shut in his face.

Another door. "Ah, are you interested in-" *Slam*

Again, "I know what you are thinking, but I'm not a-" *Slam*

Later, "Do you want to hear the good words of the Lord? Ha, judging from your expression you must have been tired of listening to-"

"How dare you defile him!" The old sheep behind the door yelled, cutting him off. "Be gone you foul BEAST! Go before I call the police."

"I am terribly sorry." *Slam*

Hours passed with no results. Deciding to call it a day, Nick headed back to his place. He sighed as he thought about the nearly hour long walk ahead of him. He thought about taking a chance and cheating a ride out of the public transit. However, the possibility of being caught was too real to ignore. Losing 200 dollars and the risk of jail was not worth it. _Besides, walking is good for your health,_ he told himself. Prey claimed it 'worked out the pent-up aggression that resided within everyone, but especially predators.'

As Nick got closer and closer to his home, the number of mammals around him gradually diminished, as did the number of warning signs hanging on the walls. A few blocks back, there was a jungle of signs like _No Growling, No Snarling,_ and _No Biting_. As he walked towards where fewer signs were posted, the became less precise. Now, near a nearly empty crossroad, there was only one big sign that said _No Visible Aggression._

He noticed as he walked up to his home/office/tailor shop that, for some reason, it took him longer to arrive than was usual. Maybe it was because he was hungry? Like always, he stopped about a few feet in front the place. _John Wilde and Son_ were written across the door in cracked, peeling cursive. As he had a look around, the word 'rundown' came to mind. The ugly seven letter word described everything nearby, including the homeless raccoon that kept coming around, tapping the moss-stained glass of the shop and asking for John. Oh, speak of the devil, there he was now.

"Heeey, mammal. Is Ol' John around? Haven't seen him in a _coon's age_." The dirty old raccoon cracked up at his joke. Nick ignored him like he ignored the green moss eating the exterior of the shop and the rest of the neighborhood. He vaguely remembered how the mayor on the news had said, "Nature is taking back the South East of the First District." She went on to say that she would give it back to nature, as soon as whoever was left willingly relocated to another part of the city. The sheep's offer was becoming more tempting to Nick by the day.

As Nick unlocked the door, the key shrieked as it struggled to get through the rust. He twisted the knob and slammed the door with his shoulder. It took more effort every day, but the door did give way. A wave of hot, stale air rushed into Nick's face. He took a deep breath, taking in all that scents from the suits that he had and had yet to make. He tossed the suitcase on the floor and hung his striped tie on a coat rack. Nick kept the black suit on.

He loosened his collar a bit, trying to make sure that the sweat would not cause too big of a rash. "Another day without a paycheck." He whispered to himself. The fox made his way toward a metal filing cabinet. After a long sigh, he proceeded to open one drawer titled _Whatever's left_. The metal drawer creaked and stopped halfway. Nick breathed through his teeth and yanked it out. The sudden vibration caused the dead plant in a pot on top of the cabinet to fall. It shattered, scattering dry clumps of dirt across the floor. Nick made a mental note. _Clean it up, later._ He dug into the drawer and fished out a handful of wrinkled dollar bills. "Time for Linner!" he said cheerfully, trying to imitate his father.

He stepped out, closed the door and locked up. The five o'clock sun shone on the shop's sign. It highlighted the graffiti left by some vandal. The red painted obstructed the first two letters of his father's name. He would have gotten it off ages ago. Only if detergent were cheaper. With the rule of inflation in effect, the day he got it off was postponed until, well… never. Just like that, he walked off towards the nearest Bug Burger.

 _Around six o'clock_

"What do you want?" the teenager rabbit behind the counter said. His eyes looked dead and droopy.

Nick said, "I'll take the single patty, without anything." He usually went for the double, but times had changed. The day before, he was a few dollars richer. Today was not the day before.

Later, he took his food and got to a seat near the window. Nick took a small bite from his unimpressive Linner. The crammed up hard-shell bugs always fall off from the patty, making it feel like he was eating sand. As if some kid in a playground sandbox. Someone who was playing make-pretend had given Nick whatever they had scooped up and called it a burger. He sucked it up and tried to swallow it down; just like a responsible father who did not want to disappoint his son.

Nick coughed and had a look through the window. He needed a little break before taking another bite. He watched all the animals walking by. When he was a kid, he used to make a game out of it. Just counting how many shock collars lights there were. Young Nick would do so while his father tried to figure out how to continue making clothes for animals when 90% of the customers took one look at his collar and walked right out the door. Nick tried not to think too much of the past and focused on counting the lights. As time went on, the green lights rhythmic bobbing hypnotized him, temporarily numbing him and freeing him from all the cares that he had for the world.

However, something was different that day. There was an error, a misstep, an off-key note in this otherwise perfectly repetitive melody. One collar was not on. Nick immediately trailed his eyes upward, trying to catch the face of whoever possessed the broken collar. The clothing suggested a small, male predator, maybe a little shorter than Nick. The hoody prevented Nick from knowing what kind of predator he was. Nick's collar let out a quick jolt, reminded him that he should not get too excited. That time, Nick was not bothered by it. His mind was on something else. Nick quickly wrapped up the burger and shoved in his suit's pocket. He ran out of the restaurant, bumping into a few predators in the process. The fox let out a sigh of relief when the hooded predator was still in his sight. It was easy to recognize him from the crowd, thanks to the orange backpack.

Nick followed the mysterious predator across three blocks until he suddenly ground to a halt. Nick's instinct kicked in.

The predator turned around, checking to see if anyone noticed him. Seeing the coast was clear, the predator punched the collar on his neck. The soft blow turned the light back on. Nick's ears perked up, expecting to hear the sound of the predator returning to his route. Nick had a peek, verified that it was safe to continue stalking. It was then Nick noticed this predator lacked a tail.

The mysterious predator pulled out a cracked smartphone from his pocket. The way he looked around and back to the phone suggested that he was looking at a map. The predator made a sharp turn. Five minutes later, the predator seemed to find his destination. It was an apartment within the First District. The predator then stood beside the garage door that led down to a parkade. He crossed his arms, waiting for something. That prompted Nick to do the same, but a few meters away and out of the predator's sight.

Before long, the garage door began to open. A car was exiting. Once the car had left and the door was half way close, the predator quickly ran toward the door, ducked and rolled inside. Nick could not believe his eyes. He was watching a violation of the law in the process. His first reaction was to call the police. However, once the phone was in his hand, a voice screamed in the back of his head. _What are you doing? Did you forget? Stalking someone is also a violation. A predator like you should know better._

Nick immediately shut off his phone's screen. That was true, he told himself. His rational mind determined that it is best to avoid this whole thing altogether. He did not see a predator with a broken T. A. M. E. collar was committing a crime. It would be best for him to continue his life as though nothing happened.

However, ask yourself this. How many times in your entire life did you _actually_ listen to your rational mind? Nick's lifetime-rational-counter went down by one that day. He quickly ran toward the garage door. Then he waited for a car to open the door so he could do the same thing as the hooded predator. Thankfully, it was only a couple minutes before another car drove through, allowing the fox to slip inside.

Nick was in. Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed him. He had a quick look at the corners around the ceiling. There was a distinct lack of cameras in this parkade. At least he was sure that he wasn't going to get in trouble for this (at least not yet). Nick walked casually around the rows of parked cars, all the while his eyes were scanning for the predator.

And there he was, inside the E-sized section. The predator was constantly yanking door handles of various cars sized from small to medium small. He did so one by one, hoping that one careless driver had forgotten to lock the door. He could always pick the lock, but that would be too messy, and of course, everyone would be aware of a random predator picking a car lock. Besides, he did not need the vehicle anyway.

 _Click._ Finally, the cat found what he was looking for. He swung open the door and climbed into the grey SUV. He sat behind the wheel, then reached over and pulled the door closed just to be safe. The first thing he took was a bundle of electronic parking tags on the rear-view mirror. He checked each carefully, deciding what to shove in his pocket and what to toss on the coffee stained floor. He opened the glove compartment and clawed out whatever was inside. Rotten carrot granola bars, a few cheap CDs, and the all-important garage door controller. He took the controller and put it in his pocket.

He opened the compartment beside the gear and found a pair of shades. The predator took down the hood looked himself in the rearview mirror. A white cat stared back at him, wearing a pair of weathered glasses. The glasses' frame was supposed to be black, but time had turned it into a weird shade of gray. The fur on his face was surprisingly thin, especially under his eyes. He put on the shades and checked himself out. The cheap glued-on plastic sure did not make him look any better. He still looked like a thirty-something cat despite being twenty years of age.

The cat tossed the shades on the floor and put his glasses back on. He climbed on the back seat and looked back at the trunk. There were a few Elkea bags down there (empty of course), a few bottles of detergent and a shoebox. He shook the box and the sound it made put a smile on his face. He took the box and opened it. Inside, was a pair of brand new rabbit track shoes. He had a look at the number. If he had been a rabbit, they would fit him perfectly. Still, he took the shoes out with a big smile. As if he had dig up a hidden treasure. He forcefully shoved the shoes inside his backpack. The track shoes rested among the nest of wires, electronic devices, small tools, spray body paint, bobby pins, and two more smartphones, both of which were cracked severely.

He stepped out of the car and saw Nick looking at him. Nick's eyes were widening. It was not like you could see a cat every day in Zootopia. And not in a million years should you find one in this situation. The cat gave Nick a wide cheeky grin. His eyes kept looking away as he tried to think up some sort of an excuse. However, after seeing Nick just looking at him without saying much, the cat made a last resort move. He punched Nick in the face. The hit was rather weak, but that was all that the cat needed. While Nick was stunned, he pushed the fox to the side and ran toward the exit.

As soon as he was back to his senses, Nick followed him. Nick's heart began to pump harder, prompting the collar to put a shock on him. He did not falter. Instead, he bit through the shock and increased his speed. Nick got out of the parkade and chased after the cat in the guest parking lot. The white-furred mammal got on the road and jumped, preemptively avoiding an oncoming car. Nick was not as fast. As a result, the last things the fox could remember were a car horn and the pavement rushing up to meet him.

* * *

 **Author note:**

To those who have been following me, yes, this is a revamp of the original Wild Times with Wilde. I was never quite satisfied with the original fic. With English as my second language, grammar has been a tall mountain that stands between me and peak quality. Now with ADeadMissionary, I can climb a little higher. I know it is far from perfect, but this is the best version I have to offer.

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Acknowledgement:**

I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. He is a wonderful author that I would recommend. You can check out his profile and stories at your own leisure.

www fanfiction net / u/ 1160012/

 **Disclaimer:**

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

* * *

(The song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

 **Wild times with Wilde: Renovated**

(Song ends)

 **Chapter 2: A Sample of Freedom**

It hurt to breathe. The air around Nick was so sterilized it stung the inside of his nose every time he inhaled. Though that didn't explain the twinge inside his ribs. _Probably the internal bleeding_ , he thought morbidly. He sat on a polar-bear-size bed with his back slightly slouched and eyes half closed.

 _That squirrel nurse said_ ' _The Doctor will see you in 5 minutes,'_ Nick thought to himself. _You said the same thing,_ he glanced at the clock on the wall, _15 minutes ago._ He looked around, waiting. He was in the standard predator room. It had enough space to keep an oversized bear, tons of medical equipment for all kinds of bigger predators, a large cage to keep such predators from getting too _hysterical_ , several warning lights, and a handful of tranquilizers that could take down an elephant.

Nick scratched his chest. This hospital gown was starting to get on his nerves. _Remember, no visible aggression._ He drew out a long breath and tried to keep his face as close to stoic as possible.

Ears perked as Nick heard the sounds of frantic animals from outside. He watched the open door of his room intently. Soon, he spotted a gurney being pushed down the hall, surrounded by doctors and nurses, followed by a panicking bear couple. On the gurney, barely visible through the mob, he saw an unconscious bear cub. He did not look a day older than ten in his bright yellow 'BIRTHDAY BOY' shirt. His fur was a little fuzzy and roughed up. On his neck was a gift from the city: a brand new shock collar. Before Nick could react, the hospital bed and everyone around it disappeared down the hall.

Once the distraction had passed, Nick let out another drawn out sigh.

He began to scratch at his chest again, nearly fed up. Just as Nick was beginning to consider taking off the gown all together, the doctor stepped in. Although, it was hard for Nick to think of him as such in his current garb. It was an armadillo, wearing thick black padding and armor plates. Nick closed his left eye and used his other to focus on the doctor. The prey looked more like a SWAT member who was about to pin Nick to the ground than a medical professional. Although, seeing how sluggish and clumsy he was while wearing it, he would have an extra hard time trying to restrain Nick.

The squirrel nurse came in after the doctor. She took cover beside the doorframe then swiftly ran behind the doctor. She gave him an X-ray photo then dashed toward a big red button at the corner of the room. The doctor held the cyan and black photograph up. He said, "Okay, Mister Wilde. Um, eh, the X-ray revealed that there is nothing broken or fractured. However, I just need to double check." He took a deep breath and exhaled, fogging the glass on his helmet. "So, we will now take off the collar."

The doctor put the photograph down on a desk and pulled out something that resembled a supermarket barcode reader. Step by step, he approached Nick. Through his glued-on smile, he said, "Please, heh, remain calm with the knowledge that I have wife and kids back home, who are waiting for me. Did I mention that today is my daughter's birthday?"

Nick did not say a word. The fox just stared blankly into the distance. The doctor turned to the nurse. Her paw hovered above the red button. "Okay, let's do this." The armadillo reached his hand out, trying to get the scanner closer to the light on Nick's collar. The nurse bit down on one of her claws. Her other hand was millimeters away from the button. She started shaking when the device unlocked the collar. The warning lights within the room started to play out. A siren blasted into Nick's ears. Nick recoiled at the sound, causing the poor doctor to back away. Nevertheless, Nick tried to stay still. This whole show was already wearing him out and he did not want it to drag on any longer. Like a member of a bomb disposal unit who had just removed a fuse, the doctor slowly withdrew his hand, taking the collar with it. He then put the collar on the bed, right beside Nick.

Nick's eyes began to lose focus. The siren gradually faded away. He felt a light breeze down his neck. His back slowly straightened up, his shoulders free of the weight that they had become so accustomed to. Nick closed his eyes. Wind flowed over him, ruffling his fur. When his eyes opened, the hospital was gone. His mouth had no trouble cracking a smile when in front of him was an all too familiar field of wheat. He was nine years old again, small and lithe and ignorant of all the pain in the world. He started to run. Crushed branches of sweet-scented wheat brushed against his feet. Usually, such shenanigans would get him into trouble (mostly lawsuits); but at that moment, he did not have to worry. He was a kid, and _most_ kids were free. Crackling and rustling of wheat drew his eye to the left. Cloaked in the shadow of the tall stalks, another mammal ran parallel to him. Someone was racing against him! Well, if he was going to race, he wasn't going to lose. He sped up, raised his hands in the air-

"Everything is good, thank you for your cooperation." The relieved voice of the doctor broke his fantasy. Nick found himself once again in the standard predator room with enough space to keep an oversized bear, tons of medical equipment for all kind of predators, a large cage to keep such predators from getting too 'hysterical', several warning lights, and a handful of tranquilizer that could take down an elephant. The nurse was missing, and so was the collar on the bed sheet. Nick saw his warped reflection on the doctor's helmet. Like in his fantasy, his arms were in the air and his face was split with an euphoric smile. But, now the collar was around his neck, a familiar green light once again shining from below his chin. As reality asserted itself, he watched his own exhilarated expression crumble. "Mr. Wilde, are you okay? You look like you are experiencing a stroke. Do you want to transfer to another department?"

Face stoic, Nick shook his head and lowered his hands. "No. Can I leave now?"

"Certainly. Do you want me to guide you back to your clothes and personal belongings?"

"No, that's not necessary. Thank you." Nick hopped down from the bed and slowly walked away.

The doctor took off his heated helmet and looked at Nick, seemingly dumbstruck. It took him awhile to say, "You're welcome."

A few minutes later, Nick was back in his suit. Nose curling from the scent of putrid sweat and rotten bug meat wafting off the black cloth, he stood in front of the hospital reception desk. He had to crane his neck up a bit to look at the receptionist. "Give me the bad news, how much is the bill?"

The doe behind the desk looked at him, one brow cocked. "The bill? You have nothing to worry about Mr. Wilde. Your friend has already paid."

A wrinkled formed on his forehead. "My friend?"

"Yes, a white cat. Said he was your croquet buddy."

A memory flashed in his head. The cat in the garage! _I wonder.._. "Right, yeah. My croquet buddy. Where did he go?"

She said, looking at her watch. "He left, like, half an hour ago."

"Oh." Nick's head drooped down. Then he perked up again, looking back to the doe. "Did he leave anything for me?"

9:00 P.M.

Nick was walking along the semi-empty boulevard, miles away from the hospital and nearly half the district away from his home. With the direction he was taking, he was actually getting further away from his father's shop. The nurse's voice played back in his head. _"_

 _He just left behind 200 dollars and told me to use it for your bill. Seemed to be in quite a hurry, so I didn't ask too many questions. He should be more careful. If that were Janet, then the money would be gone. Anyhow, here's the change."_

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out 53 dollars and 25 cents. His head brought up tons of questions. All of which had the same answer: _He's gone, so it doesn't matter._ Nick separated 3 dollars and headed to the nearest subway station. An hour and a half of fee should be enough to get him home.

Nick's face returned to its stoic state the moment his tail touched the subway's seat. A handful of animals occupied the train car he was in was. There was a tiger construction worker, (part of) a family of bunnies, a horse, and a couple of sheep. Nick looked through the window, witnessing a reflection of himself on the murky glass. The green light on his neck was still on.

A rhino entered Nick's car. He systematically asked the passengers to show him their passes. Everyone in the car, except for one animal obliged. The rhino did not notice that at first. Only when he was about to enter the next car did he see the last one. The rhino reached down and said. "Sir, wake up."

A voice came from the front seat. "Huh? What? Who the heck are you? Wait, where are we now?"

"I'll tell you, but first, ticket please."

The animal grunted. "Yeah, yeah. Wait a minute."

The Rhino eyes started rolling, his arms crossed. "Sir, I don't have all day."

"Pff, we both know that's a load of manure." The mammal yawned. "Just give me a- There we go." The Rhino reached his head down to have a good look at the monthly pass. "Are we good in the hood?"

"Yes." The Rhino said then moved on to the next car.

"Hey, you didn't tell me-" The door closed. "Fine, I'll do it myself." There was a pause. "Aw dang. Nine thirty already?" The animal then climbed on the back of his seat. "Hey, does anyone know where we are?" a white cat with glasses asked the other passengers. His eyes scanned around, searching for an answer, but all he got were sideway glances and Nick's surprised face. The cat quickly dropped down and kept his silence. His eyes were constantly moving, his mind searched for an excuse.

Nick walked up to his seat. The fox smiled and said. "We are approaching Saddle Station. Mind if I sit here?"

The cat avoided Nick's eyes. "Sure, free country and all."

Nick sat down then whispered. "Do you remember me?"

The cat answered, with the same volume "Yeah I do. You are one persistent fox, I'll give you that."

Nick offered him a handshake. "Just lucky. I don't think we have been properly introduced. I'm Nick. Nick Wilde."

The cat glared at him. "Pal, giving me your name is the biggest mistake you could ever make. Second only to following me."

Nick's smile didn't waver. "Oh, really? I guess I'll just take my chances with the infamous _Parkade Raider_ , then."

The cat climbed up his seat once again. All the animals on the train car were looking at him. "Hm. We should get off before these fine folks start asking questions."

"What the matter? What have you got to be afraid of from someone you just helped?"

The cat pointed at Nick. "Listen, fox. If you want to say 'thank you' or 'you are a shining example of an upstanding citizen of Zootopia' or whatever platitude the mayor has been giving out lately, I'll take it. You're welcome. Just take my kindness and forget about me. Please. You're just gonna cause me and you trouble. Let things roll, okay?"

Nick began to laugh, though quietly.

The cat's eyes squinted. His tone darkened. "Oh, I get it. You're here to blackmail me aren't you? Are you going to turn me to the cops and get some of those sweet good-citizen credits? Is that it? Huh? For your information, I've been to prison. Nothing intimidates me anymore." He then gave Nick the most intimidating look his sleep deprived face could provide.

Nick chuckled. "Now that's cute." He paused and a looked around. "Kid, you need a drink to calm you down." Just as the train about to stop, Nick got off the seat and headed for the door. "Come on, Parkade."

The cat pointed his finger. "Don't call me that."

9:45 P.M.

The cat and Nick were sitting on a bench near the Saddle Station. Nick had himself a bottle of beer while the cat clung onto a bottle of soda. With some struggle, the cat managed to pop his cap open. Nick just shook his head slightly in disapproval. The cat spat at him. "Don't judge me! Cats have very low tolerance to alcohol."

Nick took a sip. "Heh. Last time I checked, that is not true."

"How many cats have you actually met?"

Nick paused a bit then said. "Good point."

Another train came and went. Both of them stared at the electrical sparks that flashed across the wire above the train. The cat drank a little bit more.

Nick asked. "First day on the streets huh?"

The cat shook his head. "No, I started a long time ago. Don't remember when."

Nick chuckled.

"What's so funny, fox?"

"I have a few friends that lived on the streets since they were young. Something tells me that they would laugh too."

"How relevant. You think I'm going to buy that from a guy in a suit?"

"See, that's your problem, no longtime street dweller would talk like that."

"Bah, who needs that when I'm always one step ahead?"

"Really? Then why are you drinking with a stranger?" The cat raised his index finger, paused, then lowered it. "Just saying kid, as jittery as you are, you're not going survive the streets of Zootopia." The cat looked the other way. Nick continued. "So, runaway or desperate?"

The cat finished the bottle and said "Runaway, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"I'm not some antsy runaway teenager who lives off of leftover money from a privileged parent who refused to pamper him, okay? I left because there was nothing for me. I made my own income in my own ways." A reminder rang up in his head. "Petty theft not included. I was merely collecting a sample. It's complicated. But, it's different." He tossed the bottle into a nearby trashcan. "What about you? Desperate or a runaway?"

Nick looked up at the polluted inner-city sky. "Desperate, sort of."

The cat spat at the ground. "Pft! There is no _sort of_ in that." He had a second look at Nick. "Judging from the suit… Let me guess: Debt?"

"No. Not yet, anyway. I may be desperate, but I know a way out. Big difference." He slapped his hand on the cat shoulder. The white furred mammal immediately brushed it off. "The funny part is, you helped me get the idea. And I need your help in one department."

"Really?" The cat made a face. "You know I'm not really a thief, right? And stealing is by no means a way out."

"No, kid, nothing like that. Just let me finish, okay?"

"Okay?" The cat tilted his head slightly. "I'm all ears."

"How much do you make from your way of doing things?"

The cat started weighing two imaginary objects with his hands. "Enough to keep me afloat. Not enough for anyone to notice."

"So, you do small and, may I guess, illegal things to get by?"

"Yup."

Nick downed the last drop of his bottle. "Have you ever thought about doing something that matters?"

"All the time," said the cat. "When I was _six_. But as you can see, the only thing that matters to me now is myself. What are you getting at, fox?" He gave Nick a sideway glance. Nick retaliated by an expression that said, _Seriously?_ The cat knitted his fingers together. "Okay, I'll shut up now."

"While I was in that hospital I had a revelation. About something that predators need."

"Stop with the dramatic pauses, man. Just say it."

Nick stood upright and looked up. "I will make the best amusement park that predators could ask for. A place where we let loose and be free." His index finger pointed upward.

The cat closed his left eye. "An amusement park for predators? I could count at least three things wrong with that idea." The cat flashed three of his fingers. "Let's begin. You know why none of us rides roller coasters, right? The moment the adrenaline hits, we get zapped. It's not fun. Two: The chance for _any_ predator to get a loan from a bank is next to none, much less a fox. Oh and, well, not that I want to hurt your less-than-one-day-old dream, but do you know how hard it is to make an amusement park? What about funds? Location? And... I don't know, permits?"

Nick gave him a smirk. "I'm pretty sure you could have answered one question already." The cat was unamused. Nick continued. "Oh, by the way, your collar turned off again."

"What?" The cat looked down and frantically checked his collar. His confirmation came in the form of a small shock. Recovered from the jolt, he glared at Nick. He gave a fake laugh. "Haha, very fu- Wait! You can't be serious. You mean taking off their collars?"

"Not permanently, of course. I'm pretty sure you can make it happen for a few predators for a few hours."

Any hint of sarcasm disappeared from the cat's face. "Nick, that is-"

"Illegal. I know."

"That's no joke, Nick. That's borderline felony right there."

"I said I know. But look at it this way: You've been to prison, right?"

The cat's eyes drifted to the upper left. "Yeah, but, not serving time, though. Why?"

"The rumor on the street is that, regardless of what kind of crime you have done, you are pretty much screwed. Once you are in, you are done. Do a small crime, you go in, you get out, but no one from the outside will help you. No matter what those commercials say, no one helps someone with a criminal record. All that makes sure that you go back, if they even let you out in the first place."

The cat looked down. "Yeah, I saw a guy spending, like, a decade for some small crime that even he couldn't even remember."

"So, the risks of doing something illegal, whether big or small, aren't that different. So, are you risking going to jail for petty crimes that any no-good teenager can do, or do something that matters for us all?" The cat got his head down this time. His thoughts began to race. "Listen, kid. This city has taken so much freedom from all of us predators. Let's take some of that back, huh?" Before long, the cat jumped off the bench. He started walking away.

"C'mon, kid."

The cat turned around. His left hand placed on his chest. "Oh, you think I'm walking away? No, no, absolutely not." He pointed at Nick. "I'll help you, but, not with that mentality."

"What mentality?"

"Never, ever think being caught is the final result. Okay? This is not some crusade suicide mission. We are not martyring ourselves here. We will pull this one off so smooth, that we will have freaking fireworks and no one will bat an eye."

Nick shrugged. "Sure, wouldn't want to close up shop too early, anyway." Nick threw his bottle in the can.

The cat crossed his arms. "We'll charge a fee for this one, right?"

Nick's expression and mouth said, "Of course."

"Good, 'cause I don't do charity. Before anything else, let's talk pay. I want 50% of whatever we earn."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, I might not be a professional street dweller, but I'm not an idiot. Your revelation came from me. And I'm going to help you carve out a niche for this place. If I'm taking a huge risk, I want a reward that matches."

"I guess that's fair."

"Consider that a generous offer, because I can help you with more than just opening the collars." The cat looked at his cracked phone. "Well, it's getting late. You can crash at my place. I'm sure that you'll want to see it."

Surprised by the last sentence, Nick just said. "Fine, lead the way."

They headed North, towards the edge of Zootopia. The area was drastically different from anywhere else in the city. It was underdeveloped and seemingly uninhabited. There were large dirt mounds the size of hills everywhere, sitting next to unoccupied foundations. Judging from the wild greenery that had grown over everything, the concrete pads had been there for a while.

The further they went from the bustling city, the taller the grass around them became. The cat snapped his fingers twice, attracting Nick's attention. "We are close. See that dome over there?" Nick looked around, but all he could see were grassy hills and overgrown foundations. However, one hill was smoother and more uniform than the rest.

Supposing that it was the dome, Nick replied. "Yes". Nick then heard a rapid rustling sound. Seeing the rapidly retreating back of his new cohort, he started to run toward the dome as well.

They were soon in front of the dome. It was a factory of sorts, though Nick thought it was an aircraft hangar at first. It was hard to tell what was manufactured in this place, since only the rusted, skeletal shell could be seen. He sure that there was a sign amid the darkness, but he must have missed it. The cat dragged the main gate open and invited Nick in. Inside was darkness. However, Nick's eyes could just make out a few boxy outlines.

Nick said. "Is this your place?"

"Eh. I live here, but technically I don't own it." The cat turned to the left and grabbed something. He gave it a yank, the sound of an engine weakly turning over echoing out across the huge space. After three or four pulls, the engine finally roared to life. Lights mounted haphazardly across the warehouse flickered on, giving Nick his first clear view of the place. The cat was standing next to with what looked like a modified lawnmower. The engine was linked to a fuse box. _That explains the noise_ , Nick thought. Lying on the floor beside it was several other lawnmowers. All had their blades taken out and replaced with copious amounts of copper wire, duct tape, and magnets.

Nick saw what were mere silhouettes a moment ago: A pickup truck with its engine exposed; scattered piles of scrapped machinery; stacks of plywood; a crate filled to the brim with duct tape; and various miscellany scattered over everything. He noticed a collection of items huddled off in a far, far corner. That was when he noticed how much space this cat had. The place was big enough to house a carnival and half!

Like a master of ceremonies, the cat walked forward and slowly spun, his extended arms indicating the whole, huge space. "What do ya think? Looks like I got the location part taken care of."

Nick did not answer. He was too busy putting imaginary rides and attraction in this empty space.

The feline continued. "You know what the best part is? I know how to contact the guy who owns this place. The price is dirt cheap, by real estate standards. You'll have to take care of that part." Nick remained silent, still occupied by his thoughts. The cat snapped his fingers. "Hey! You still listening?"

Nick snapped out of it and said. "Eh? Sure. How did you come across this place anyway?"

"A little research and a little dumb luck. I was just looking for a new place to live that isn't infested with homeless. So, I took a step beyond, going to a place no homeless had tread before." He put his hand up in a dramatic manner. "Did a little digging and found reports of former Mayor Swinton's abandoned projects."

"Abandoned projects?"

"Yeah, after she took office, she managed to attract a lot of investors to the area. The guy who owns this place was one of them."

Nick tilted his head. "Why did they stop?"

"Don't know. The money just dried up. There are some rumors that the whole area is a cursed burial ground. Some say the whole thing was a scam. I don't know and I don't care. Bottom-line: I lived here long enough to know that there are no ghosts, and the place is up for grabs." He clapped his hands. "So, what do you think of this place?"

It took Nick a while to answer. He gave the whole area another sweeping glance. "It's perfect." An exhilarated smile began to show, the same 'Happy Face' he wore when he had the vision in the doctor's office. "No one would look for this unless we told them to. We'd be safe."

"Heh. That's the idea, Captain Obvious." The cat checked his phone. "Aw, crackers. It's eleven, I need to go to work soon. Anyhow, I'll show you around the place and lay the ground rules."

Nick followed him toward the 'far, far corner'. The stuff in the corner was much more organized than the rest of the junk. The central piece was a desk made from two office desks nailed together. On top was of it were six computers (two desktops and four laptops) that linked tight to each other with jungles of different colored wire. Below it was scanners, printers and an icebox with a fan strapped to the side. All these electronics were connected to another fuse box, which was powered by another makeshift lawnmower generator. The cat took out the parking tags in his pocket and tossed them on one computer. Beside the desk were workbenches that housed machine components and tools. On one bench, Nick saw a striped down lawnmower. On another was a baseball bat sitting beside two Taser guns and coils of copper.

There wasn't a bed, only a couch with several off-color patches and a rickey frame. Sitting on it would give one the view of a cooking station made from cinder blocks, iron rods, and charred branches. Books with random titles and topics were all over the floor. A large amount of them was about engineering, mechanical and computer. Then there were books like _The Stranger_ _by Albert Camel;_ _The Basics of Fencing_ _;_ _Do It Yourself Makeup_ _;_ _Homemade Special Effects_ _;_ _The Rise of Computer-Generated Images_ _;_ _Doomsday Preparations_ _;_ _PMP without a Certificate_ _;_ and _Cooking With What You Got_. There was a fridge along the wall which did not connect to any power outlet, a few photos stuck on the door with magnets. A large, but outdated safe stood next to the appliance

Like a tour guide, the cat gave Nick pointers. "You can live here as long as you stay away from my computers and don't waste my fuel. Feel free to sleep on the couch. Just don't jump on it. The fridge doesn't work. It got dried bugs and fruits in there. You can have some, but only if you put in more later." He approached the couch and fished a handheld scanner from between the cushions. It was covered by duct tape, except the lens. "Here, have some 'Freedom'. On the house." He nonchalantly tossed the device to Nick. "Don't think about running of with it. You would only cause yourself a lot of trouble."

Hands nearly shaking with excitement. Nick aimed the scanner at his collar and pulled the trigger. A click and the weight fell off his neck. Nick was once again racing through the golden wheat field. The cat picked up a table on the floor and stood it upright. The sound of the legs slamming on the floor broke Nick from his euphoric trance. "You can work here. There is some paper and pens lying around somewhere." He waved his index finger around. "Don't expect me to do everything. You must earn that 50%. If you want something done, like rides, attractions or whatever, design them yourself. I'm just gonna help you fill out the mechanical blanks any way I can. I'm not a genius or a magician, so keep whatever thing you have in mind simple. Also, I am always about function before form. So, if you want something to look nice, do it yourself." He had a quick look at Nick. "Feeling the pressure yet? If this is a silly dream, you can quit at any time. However, once you do, forget about everything and just leave me be. Well, I would prefer you pay me back something, for courtesy's sake. But yeah, afterward, you and I don't know each other. We go our separate ways."

Nick said with a sly smile. "Have some faith in me. We are going see this one through."

"I'm literally not holding my breath. Anyway, I'll be back from work around noon. By god, if I find something missing-"

Nick badly faked the cat's voice. " _'I'll be making a big mistake'_ , I know."

The cat gave a thumbs up. "Then we understand each other. Now, if you'll pardon me, I need to go." The cat picked up a gym bag on the floor then headed toward the door.

Nick said, "Kid. Are you forgetting something?"

The cat turned around. "What?"

Nick stuck his hand out. "We should shake hands, as business partners. Sealing the deal."

"Pft, now that's rich." The cat took it and shook. Both tried to make their grip as strong as they could. "Alex, Alex Mieu. My real full name is too difficult for you Zootopian to pronounce, so let's just stick with that."

"Nick, Nick Wilde."

"This is not going to end well, I'm telling you."

"How many amusement parks have you actually built?"

Alex made a face. "This is why I can't stand foxes."

* * *

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Acknowledgement:**

I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. He is a wonderful author that I would recommend to anyone. You can check out his profile and stories at your leisure.

www fanfiction net / u/ 1160012/

 **Disclaimer:**

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artists as well.

* * *

(The song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

 **Wild times with Wilde**

(Song ends)

 **Chapter 3: An Old Friend**

The midday sun pierced through the dirt-stained glass roof as Alex returned. A plastic bag wrapped around two takeout boxes hung from his left hand, and he gripped the gym bag's strap in his right. The gym bag dragged behind him, kicking up dust as he went. Spotting his guest, he tilted his head back and yelled. "Ey, I'm back. Have you given up yet?"

Nick, in casual shirt and jeans, did not answer. Not because he was too busy, but because he was fed up with answering the question. A Fox could only say _No_ so many times. Nick was at his 'work table', putting the finishing touches on his model. Tweezers gripped tightly in one paw and a tube of glue in the other. He carefully went over the collection of small wires and plastic pieces before him. A handful of drawings, notes, and tools were carefully laid out in easy reach.

Alex did not pay much attention to Nick's model. He just set the take out on one of his workbenches. This one had a dissected flip phone on top. "Okay, I brought lunch, as usual." He shifted to a patronizing tone. "Have any intention of paying today, Mr. Wilde?" He took out one box and opened it. A dozen coconut worms were revealed, alive and swimming in red sauce. He took the fox's silence as an answer. "IOU it is." He picked up one fat, wriggling larva and ate it whole. Humming in pleasure, he threw a glance at his so-called ' _partner_.' "Mmm. You know, I'm starting to think that this is all just an elaborate plot to get me to feed you." The cat pulled out one of his cracked phones. Pulling up a long list of numbers, he added another entry. _8.65_.

"Kid, patience is a virtue. Silence is another."

"Pft, yeah, yeah." Alex popped another larva into his mouth. Still chewing, he threw a bored glance at Nick's project. "Anyway, what do you got there?"

"It's a model for the park. You can't pitch an idea without some form of illustration."

Swallowing, Alex walked over and leaned in, giving the model a much closer look. It somewhat resembled the dome that they lived in, except this one was brightly colored and had a few palm tree cutouts, all meticulously detailed. It even had a sign in miniature, decorated with Christmas lights. _Wild Times with Wilde,_ the sign read. However, the _with Wilde_ seemed out of place, barely attached and less detailed. "Wow. It looks... adequately impressive." He ate another worm, chewed thoughtfully and swallowed. Finally, he said, "I have underestimated you, Mr. Wilde." He then squinted his eyes. "There is something wrong, though."

"Really? Where?"

Alex pointed at the sign. "Isn't the whole 'with Wilde' thing kinda redundant? I mean, can't you just cut it?" Alex slurped some of the sauce.

"I was thinking the same, but the name 'Wild Times' could be a common thing. It might be copyright protected." Nick's response earned him sideways glance from Alex.

Alex wiped some sauce from the corner of his mouth. "Nick, we are building an unpermitted amusement park that revolves around the completely illegal act of removing predator's collars. I'm pretty sure copyright infringement is the last thing we should worry about."

"In that case," Nick used a wire cutter and snapped off the _with Wilde_ in two clean cuts. "All right, I think we are ready to go."

Alex's ears perked up. "Already? Good." He wolfed down the rest of his larvae along with the sauce. The red sticky liquid dropped and rolled on his hoody like blood. "Finish your lunch and hop in the car."

Nick covered his model with a thin veil and picked it up. He turned to his partner. "Alex, I left something for you on the couch. You'll need it for today."

"Oh, really? As long as it's free."

The cat approached the worn couch while Nick walked to the now reassembled truck. He laid his model in the back seat, then carefully locked it in with a seatbelt. Nick turned around and saw Alex, fully dressed in the last suit made by the _John Wilde and Son_ brand. The cat scratched on various parts of the sleeve. "Kinda itchy, but I'll take it. You know what? I'll scrap those IOUs if you let me keep this."

"Done," Nick agreed easily. It took another second for him to register what had happened. "How did you change that fast?"

Alex just shrugged. "I have a lot of practice. For... reasons. Don't mind that, just go have lunch and dress nicely. I'll wait in the car. Don't forget the forms I printed out for you." He pointed at the printer.

Alex walked to the back of his truck and picked up a plastic shell shaped like a cat's leg. He put it on his left leg and locked it tight. The thing gave the illusion of his leg being prosthetic. He needed that to match the handicap tags he put on his car.

Nick shook his head at the sight. "When will you live true to yourself?"

"When it pays well."

* * *

Half an hour later

The pair sat in the front of the truck outside Lemming Brother's Bank parkade. Alex reached out of the window and flashed one of his _collected_ parking tags on a digital reader. The machine let out a quick bleep, giving Alex the permission to enter Zootopia's largest bank. As the barricade lifted, he shot his partner a victorious smile "Ha! Would you look at that? Not so petty now, is it, Nick?"

"Yeah, just remember to lock the truck up tight. It would be a shame if someone _took them,_ " Nick shot back.

A few minutes later, Nick and Alex were standing in front of a trio of elderly lemmings in fine suits. Nick put his model on the desk, while Alex presented him with a loan application form. Alex then hung a printed plan that included rides and attractions on a canvas that he had _borrowed_. With a nod to each other, Nick began.

"You know they say you can't put a price on happiness. To them, I say you can. Bang!" He slapped a small yellow tag that said 19.95 on his model. "There it is! 19.95 per ticket. I have the building; I have the plan; I have the staff." Nick pointed toward Alex.

Alex added. "There will be more of us."

Nick continued. "And I have the dream. The only thing I don't have is a loan to make it happen. Friends," Nick stuck out his hand, offering a handshake. "Will you help me make it happen?" He said with a wide PR grin.

Working together, the three lemmings lifted a large rubber stamp and walked to the loan application that Alex had laid out. Nick and Alex watched, cautiously hopeful as they stamped the form. The fox and the cat both deflated as they saw **Rejected** printed out in bright red ink. Nick sighed and grabbed the model. Both walked away without saying another word.

In Sahara Savings, Nick and Alex completed another demonstration in front of an elephant.

"Will you help me make it happen?" Nick asked

 **Rejected.** The elephant's stamp was so big that the 'R' and 'ted' were printed on the desk instead.

"They say you can't put a price on happiness. To them, I say _hogwash_."

The pig behind the desk glared, unamused. With ink made from mud, he stamped **Rejected.**

Now it was a giraffe behind the desk

"Will you help me make it happen?" Nick shouted at the distant, his voice echoing in the office.

A stamp with an extra-long handle answered: **Rejected.**

As they were walking out, Alex made a suggestion. "These guys have probably heard buzzwords like that million of time. Try something less- I don't know… salesman-ish."

Later, in front of three Koalas.

"I want to introduce you into an untapped market: Predators. Yes, they are only 10% of the population, but 10% of a few million is still hundreds of thousands. With this amusement park being the first and only of its kind, the customer base would be huge. Imagine the profit that this would bring if we charge 20 dollars a ticket. This idea _literally_ pays itself. So, what do you think?"

One of the Koalas asked, "What kind of attractions do you have in mind?"

"The wildest kinds."

The Koala raised her finger. "I have to stop you there. Shouldn't the T.A.M.E. collars be a factor that hinders the enjoyment?"

Caught out, Nick looked at Alex. The cat dragged his finger across his neck

"I mean, uh, the mildest kinds?" the fox said, sounding unsure.

"We are done here." She stamped Nick's paper. **Rejected.**

Alex whispered to Nick as they left. "So close."

Later, at the Better Borrowing Burrow, which was owned by a band of bunnies. Nick looked straight into their round, empty eyes. "I want to put this on the table." He pointed at them. "You don't like mammals like me, and I don't like mammals like you, but what do we both like? Money." He rubbed his fingers together. "You have it, I want to borrow it, and then we both make a lot of it." He gave them a close-lipped smile, gritting his teeth. "How about it?"

With their tiny hands, they stamped **Rejected** in unison.

They stood in front a very stern looking moose.

Nick tried to act as laid back as possible "Desperate? Ha! I'm not desperate."

The moose wasn't buying it. **Rejected.**

"I am desperate," he told the zebra at the next bank.

The zebra pulled the application over with one hoof and grabbed the stamp with the other. **Rejected**.

Later, at the Very Small Business Administration.

"Look, I get it, no one wants to throw money down a rat hole." Nick jerked, realizing only after he said it that it was a bad idea. "Er, uh, no disrespect!"

With a stamp made of cheese, the mouse stamped **Rejected.**

Later, at JP Maregan

"Look I don't want to beat a dead horse. Ehhhh, I'm just gonna leave. Forever."

Glaring, the female horse brought her stamp down with finality. **Rejected.**

Afterward, Alex applauded. "Real smooth, Nick. Real smooth."

Nick let out a long drawn breath. "Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. Oh my god, this is getting ridiculous."

"We can only stop here."

"No, let's try a few more."

* * *

An hour later, after a mind-numbingly long meeting with a bank run by sloths, both of them returned to the car. Nick leaned back in his seat with his hands over his forehead. "Okay, this is a little harder than I expected."

With a softer tone, Alex spoke out. "Look, Nick, it's not _just_ a little harder. It's impossible." Seeing his partner open his mouth to object, Alex raised his index finger. "Hear me out. It's not like that there's something wrong with the concept. Okay? Yes, it's horribly flawed in some areas, but it makes economic sense, even if we scrap the 'Totally Wild' part. But, here's the thing. To these preys, we predators don't exist. See what I'm getting at?" He put his hand back on the shift gear.

"I do."

"Good." Alex turned the key. He then tried to exclude all the cynicism in his mind before saying. "You tried, okay? No one can say you didn't give it your all. It's admirable that you even went this far. But, in the end..."

"Alex, honest question: do I exist to you?"

Chuckling, Alex turned off the engine. "That's a strange question." With his eyes opened as wide as possible, he looked straight at Nick. "But, I do believe that you might be a personality that I hallucinated. A voice in my head that will soon convince me to break more laws and eventually bring down the social order as we know it. Luckily, there is an easy way to verify." Reaching up, he flicked Nick's forehead. The fox recoiled a bit, more from surprise than pain. "Yup, you exist. So what?"

Nick said while rubbing his forehead. "So, we just need to look for predators with money. Problem solved. Who said predators can't be loaded?"

"Hahaha, that's rich. The only predator with that kind of money is Kos-" Alex's mouth snapped shut, alarm bells ringing in his brain,

Nick crossed his arms. He flashed the traditional sly fox expression at Alex. "What was that, Mr. Mieu?"

Alex glued a grin on his face. Turning back to the steering wheel, he nervously tapped his claws on the cracked faux-leather. "Never mind what I said. Sleep depravity is making me delirious. It was just nonsense."

"No, I don't buy it. You know who to talk to." When Alex refused to look at him, Nick put his paw on the young feline's shoulder. Against his better judgment, Alex turned to look at the fox. Nick glared at him, but not with anger. It was pleading. "Please. For the predators."

Alex took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Arghhhh. Fine! We're going to Tundra Town." He turned back to the steering wheel, mumbling as he hit the ignition. "This is _not_ going to end well."

* * *

They were soon climbing the gigantic steps of the luxury hotel Winter Palace. While most buildings in Zootopia were ultra modern structures that distanced themselves from nature, there were some that tried to emulate it. The Palm Hotel was the most famous, resembling a giant, towering palm tree. The Winter Palace was one of the less famous structures to get its inspiration from its environment, looking no different from a real glacier.

Witnessing the sheer size of the hotel, Nick asked. "How do you know this guy?"

"I have written some special codes for him, in exchange for getting some paperwork done."

"Okay, I guess that somehow explains why you spray-painted yourself?" Nick asked, eyeing the now dark gray color of Alex's white fur.

It wasn't just the cold that made Alex's voice tremble as he answered. "I can't see him as Alex, Nick. From now on, refer to me as Harry. Just Harry."

"Why do you need to be worried? You did something for him, and he returned the favor. I don't see why you need to make such a big deal."

Alex said through his teeth. "You don't get it, Nick. Doing favors for the mafia is like showing your mother how to use the Internet on her new smartphone. You think you only need to do it once, but you are dead wrong! She will always ask you to do it again. Except now, she won't sulk if you don't do it. She'll tear you half. See the point?"

"Okay, I get it." Nick had an another thought. "I should be in the clear right? I'm just asking for a loan. As long as I pay, it's good, right? Right?"

"There is no telling with Mr. Big. So prepare yourself for the worst."

They entered the hotel. The inside was surprisingly warm. One could even say welcoming. The red fabric, furniture and world-class paintings of nature made the inside more vibrant and lively than the dull crystal walls of the exterior. From the walls, the sound of Tchaikovsky's Le Lac Des seeped through. There was no line in front of the receptionist, giving Nick the chance to get right to business. As Nick approached mountain goat receptionist, she asked, "Do you have an appointment, Mr…?"

Nick gave that fox face again. "Wilde. Nick Wilde. I'm here to make a request to Master Koslov or Mr. Big."

She turned to her right, jerking her head as a signal. A polar bear nearby stood up. "Hum, you seem to be at the wrong place, Mr. Wilde." She flashed a sinister looking grin.

Hands on the desk, Nick leaned confidently. "I have a request that would definitely interest him."

"How sure are you about this... request?"

"I'm willing to bet our lives on it."

Alex, or rather, _Harry's_ ears perked up. "Wait, did you just said 'our'?"

"Excuse me." The goat smiled and walked to the back, obscured from Nick's vision. Before Alex could complain, she returned. "Master Koslov will see you shortly. Please, follow me."

As the two fell in line, Nick said, rather smugly. "Looks like we are in."

From behind him, Alex whispered, "Yeah, that's where we are. In _deep_."

She led them through a door next to the desk, then down some stairs. The area they came too was decorated too lavishly to call a basement, more like an underground floor. The three walked down a long hallway, passing dozens of large, sturdy doors. The one at the very end was their destination. It was a humongous door, more than enough to fit the biggest of polar bears. The goat opened it and stepped aside, motioning for Nick and Alex to step in.

They walked into a huge office. It was dim and foreboding, the lone lamp hanging over the one massive desk casting more shadow than light. Flanking the desk were two large polar bears, both donned in black suits that would have been at home in a mobster movie. Nick noted with interest that neither were wearing collars.

"Have a seat." The polar bear on the left said. Nick and Alex complied. They clambered up into the one chair that had been set out, easily large enough to fit them both comfortably. As he settled under the watchful gazes of the two huge predators, Alex felt chills across his body. Except for his back, which was sweating like mad. Nick fared better, but the anxiety rolling off of Alex was making him feel anxious, too.

Another polar bear stepped in, the largest that Nick had ever seen. He wore a red tracksuit, and a matching gold chain and wristwatch. He also wore no collar.

He fell into his own, much more luxurious, chair, sending a vibration across the floor and rattling the golden chain on his neck. His accent bore tremendous weight. "You walk into my Palace and demand to see me. Your courage is most commendable, but this better be worth my time. Tell me, what is your ' _request'_?"

Nick said with a small smile. "Mr. Big, sir, I just want a small loan for a special project of mine."

The bear impatiently tapped his desk with two claws. "Project? What kind?"

"The best kind there is. I am going to build the first ever Predator exclusive amusement park. The only one known to exist, a unique place where all predators are free to be themselves. To be _wild_."

Koslov's claws stopped tapping. He leaned forward in his chair, looking intrigued. "Ambitious indeed. How would you do it? The collars bind us all." No one dared to comment on the fact that he and his henchmen did not appear to have that problem.

Nick's smile grew, pleased with the polar bear's interest. He waved, directing Mr. Big's gaze to Alex. The now gray cat tensed under the scrutiny. "Harry has agreed to fix that problem."

Koslov's smile had just a touch of menace. "Yes. Harry is quite the problem solver." He looked back to Nick, eyes alight with professional curiosity. "What do you call this… venture?"

"Wild Times. The best part is, since predators have nowhere else to go, they will have to come to us. Success is practically guaranteed."

The huge polar bear leaned back, his seat creaking in protest. He thoughtfully ran his claws down his chin to his throat and hummed. "Mmm. How much do you need?"

Alex pulled out his phone and turned the calculator app on. After running through a few quick additions and multiplications, he said, "Well, according to my calculations, we need this much." He held the phone up for one of the guards to take. Koslov snapped his fingers, and the guard on the right began to move forward.

Nick suddenly snatched the phone from Alex, causing the guard to halt his advance in confusion. "Give that to me, Harry." Seeing the strange looks he was getting, he apologized. "Sorry, I just need to double check the numbers." Nick looked down at the phone. Seeing the uncomfortably large number, he quickly input a much smaller one. Done with his alteration, he held the phone up. "Here you go, Mr. Big, sir."

The polar bear guard started forward again and carefully grabbed the phone with both paws. He turned and walked to the desk. With great respect, the bear held the phone out so Koslov could read the small screen. After a quick look, the mob boss said, "Reasonable. Give it to them." The bear with the phone then went to a room to Koslov's left.

"With the scope of what you have in mind, I expect you to pay up in three months," Koslov said, looking back to the pair. Alex and Nick looked at each other, each telling the other with their eyes to say something. Koslov chuckled. "Have some faith, boys. If success is indeed guaranteed, then this deadline should not be a problem."

The guard returned, a wad of money slightly thicker than a softcover novel held in one hand. It was held together with a thick rubber band, with Alex's phone tucked into the top. He threw the wad on the table. Alex carefully reached his hand out and took it.

Koslov snapped his fingers. The guards positioned themselves on either side of his desk. "Remember, if you two ever think about running away..." As he spoke, the two guards lifted the heavy desk and carried it to the side. A trap door was revealed. Koslov reached forward, grabbed the recessed handle and heaved. As the thick slab of wood lifted, it revealed a pit of icy water. Nick and Alex both jolted back when they realized they could see eyes looking at them. There had to be a dozen animals frozen in the water, their expressions stuck in eternal fear. Nick shivered as he saw a red fox among them. Koslov continued, grinning darkly at the pair. "You are free to join your brethren." He let go of the handle. Nick and Alex both flinched as the trapdoor slammed back into place with a thud. Koslov stood and shot a glare at them both. "Understood?"

In unison, the pair yelped, "Yes sir!"

"Good." Koslov turned and headed for the door he came in from. He waved carelessly toward the door. "You two are free to go." As the two guards replaced the table, a third polar bear walked in. Nick recognized him as the one beside the front desk. He grabbed Nick and Alex up in one paw each and carried them away. Once outside, the bear tossed them into the snow at the steps of the Winter Palace. Fortunately, the thick snow caught them with only a little bruising to their pride.

Nick got up first. As he dusted himself, he scowled a little at the hints of damp on his suit. Alex raised his head from the powder, leaving some of his gray paint in the in the snow. "Oh my god, we're still alive!" Smirking, Nick offered him a hand. Once Alex was upright, he passed Nick the wad of money. After a quick look at the number Nick left on his phone, he said. "Nick, this money is not enough. It barely covers the land."

"I know. But if we borrowed more, we wouldn't be able to pay up."

"How are we supposed to round up the last of the money? We are still one amusement park short."

"Don't worry; I'll take care of it. Take me to the South East. I have to gather a few things."

* * *

Another half hour later found the pair cruising through the mostly abandoned streets that Nick called home.

As the truck came to a stop and the pair got out. While Nick made a beeline for a nearby door, Alex followed more slowly, looking around at the moss-covered buildings curiously. "Eh, Nick. What is this place? Looks like a retirement neighborhood out of my freaking childhood nightmares," Alex asked. He received part of his answer after noticed the vandalized '-hn Wilde and Son' sign.

"It's my home slash office slash tailor house. I just need to grab something real quick," He said as he inserted the key. "Mayor Bellwether has been eyeing this location for a while now." He started the familiar struggle with the door. "I had to give it to her sooner or later. Might as well be _**now!**_ " He grunted as he slammed into a wooden frame, the door swinging in with a screech of rusted hinges.

The realization made an impact in Alex's mind. "Eh, hey, Nick. Listen, if this doesn't work, that means you will lose everything."

Nick halted in the doorway. He threw Alex a strained smile over his shoulder. "Can't say it's a fluke if I give it everything I got, right?"

"Nick, this is no joke."

"I would never joke in desperate times. I've already made up my mind. No point arguing.."

"Agh, fine. Do you need any help?"

"Sure, get a bag or something."

While Alex walked back to the truck, Nick stepped into the place for the last time. He opened up the bottom drawer of the stack and took out a few envelopes. He had a quick flip through the documents. Some of them were in his name; some of them carried the name of John Wilde and Son. He put all the documents in his suitcase. He dug his hand in the drawer again, making sure he got everything. His paw closed around a wad of paper, and he pulled it out. He stared at what he found. It was pieces of his father's paper model. He tilted his head, reading words like 'Suitopia' and 'John Wild and Son' from the faded shapes. The pieces of paper brought back some memories. His father and little Nick had both gone from bank to bank, asking for a loan to make a dream come true. It was eerie, just how similar it was to what Nick had experienced that day. He felt thankful that he did not get into any trouble with the security today, unlike back then. A tiny, frustrated Nick's attempt to grab one of the prey's **Rejected** stamps was treated as a threat. _That_ had been a mess.

Nick snapped out from the memory with a shake of his head. He stared at the paper model pieces for another second, then put them in the suitcase. He looked around, trying to find useful things while also avoiding anything that would trigger a memory. He failed in that regard when the photo of him and his father came into view. The photo was taken way before the time they moved into Zootopia. Back when Nick's biggest ambition was being a junior ranger scout. Nick put his hand on the photo frame. A weird sensation ran across his back then plagued through his body. It was warm at first, but the feeling turned cold and crippling real fast.

Alex, having practiced moving from place to place multiple times, had all of Nick's tailor tools in hisElkea bag before Nick even touched the photo frame. He was about to say something, but he stopped when he saw the way Nick looked at the little construct of wood, glass, and paper. Instead, the cat carried the bag out to the truck. When he returned, he quietly went about stripping the place clean. All the while, Nick was lost in the echoes of his past.

* * *

4:30 PM

Nick finally finished up with the place and head back to the truck. The fox said. "Thanks for helping out. Sorry I didn't do much."

"No problem. We've all been there." Alex paused. "So, should we head back or do you want to get this whole thing done today?"

Nick looked out the window with half-lidded eyes, hands loosely folded in his lap. "Just take me to City Hall. Please."

"Will do. Strap in." Axel turned the key. The car jerked a bit, rattling the pile of Nick's junk that sat in the back.

It was nearly 5 PM when the truck reached the heart of Zootopia. Alex expressed his dismay toward the devices lining the pavement. "Oh, Seriously? Coin parking meters? This is a rip-off if I ever saw one. Who the hell uses coins anymore?" They were about a block away from City Hall he pulled up to the curb. He turned to Nick. "Okay, Nick. I know you're going through a lot of turmoil right now, but can you hurry the hell up?"

Nick answered dully. "Sure. I just want to get this over with anyway."

The lack of clever remarks had Alex a little worried. "Kay. I'll wait," Alex said as he put in all the coin that he had into the machine. "Okay, we have half an hour. Let's hope that the line in there is not too long."

Alex climbed back into the truck and crossed his arms. In an effort stay awake, he squeezed his arms tight. But, no matter how badly he wanted to stay awake, his body simply turned to sleep mode. His head drooped, his chin on his chest as he drifted away.

"Mayor Bellwether, you have a-" A feminine voice popped up from a telephone.

A sheep's finger pressed hard on one of the phone's buttons, interrupting the voice. "I know, I know. Dear, just let them in. I'm ready." The sheep mayor tried to straighten up the fluff of wool on her head. She glanced at a post-it note on her desk. _Must not show any sign of breaking down toward anyone,_ it read. She looked away from the note and focused on the door. She plastered on a smile fitted for a mayor. That smile deteriorated slightly when she recognized her new guest. "Oh, Nicholas. What brings you here?"

"Not much. I'm here for the offer."

"Oh. You finally decided?" The mayor reached down for something while keeping eyes contact with Nick.

"It was inevitable, I guess. No demand, then what is the point of keeping the supply?"

"I'm sorry to hear that." The telephone beeped loudly. "Argh, please excuse me."

"Mayor Bellwether, there is another-" The same voice began again, only for Dawn to cut them off. Again.

"I know! Please, put them on hold. I'm meeting someone." Pulling her hand away from the phone, she sighed and propped her head up with the other arm.

"Something wrong, Mayor?"

"No, it's fine. Just… mayor things." She raised her head, desperately trying to maintain that _Mayor Smile_. "There are always so many things piling up. Anyhow, I'll get your check ready. Just a moment."

She took out an empty check and started writing. "This should help you get a decent apartment and something for a startup. You can always build something new. Don't lean on the past for too long, hum?" She said.

"I concur, Mayor Bellwether."

Upon hearing that someone agreed with her for once, the mayor said, "Thank you. I'll make sure that your sacrifice will be worthwhile." Still smiling, she handed him the tiny piece of paper that represented the value of his home.

* * *

Alex slipped forward, his head crashing into the steering wheel. The horn went off, startling him out of his slumber. His head shot up, and his eyes opened. Dazed, he looked to his right. He was greeted by the sight of an expired meter, the red tab raised high. "God da-AH!" He began to curse without thinking, only to scream as he was shocked. The light on his collar glowed a fierce red before switching to a warning yellow, then back to green. That might have been the end of it, had he not caught sight of a ticket on his windshield. The light turned yellow as his collar set up another discharge. That did not deter him from stepping out of the truck and yelling out, "Aw c'mon! I'm disabled for crying out loud!" Red light. He jerked as the collar shocked him again. Ignoring that, he checked his phone for the time. "I was only… 42… 43... 44 seconds late. Hey, meter maid! Are you listening to me?!" Alex yelled at the bunny, who was already printing a ticket for the next vehicle down.

The bunny turned to him. She tried to address Alex in a calm voice as she mentally ran through the script that the Chief had given her. "Sir, if you have a grievance, you can-"

Red light. Alex's collar shocked him again. The prongs were starting to grow hot against his skin. His vision started to blur. Details began to fade, including the three scars on the bunny's face. "Argh! Dang it!" He shook his head and pointed at her. "Listen, I'm not going to court for a gosh darn parking ticket. I have all kind of digital tags on this thing. Digital, _modern_ stuff, that I- I paid good money for!"

She latched the ticket dispenser on the back of her belt. "You should have known about the City Hall area. It's pretty obvious."

"But what is the point? With everywhere in this city using digital cards, no one uses coin anymore. Why is this place is so bloody special?"

"Sir, I'm just doing what the law tells me to do. _Expired_ means _ticket_." The bunny slowly reached for something strapped on her belt.

Red light. The collar shocked him again. After each shock, he appeared more agitated. This stuck out as odd for the meter maid since all the instructors and manuals had told her that the collar should make predators calm down. Alex made a face. "Argh, Lady, I'm- I have no intention to stand for this absolute b-!"

Nick's voice entered the scene, back to its usual laid back and sly tone. "Calm down a bit there, Alex. You are making a scene. Think of the children."

Alex turned around. The sight of the fox brought him some relief. "Nick, no. You don't understand."

"No, no, I do know. Let me handle it."

"Nick, what the hell are you doing? This car is..." he trailed off, not willing to admit that the truck was unregistered in front of the meter maid.

"Precious to you, I know. Alex, calm down, it's just a ticket." Nick winked. "Just get back in the car. I'll have a talk with her."

Alex exhaled, drooping as he forced himself to relax. "Fine." He slowly trundled off. Behind the closed door, Alex anxious observed the conversation, which was nearly soundless from his end.

Nick said. "Please excuse my friend. He is a bit emotional."

"I wouldn't call that a _bit_." Relaxing, she dropped her hand from her belt.

"You have to understand. Traveling halfway across the globe with a bad leg, having to learn and adapt to Zootopia's culture, it's hard for him. Did you know that in Hon Dao, it is an utmost disgrace to get a parking ticket?"

The bunny racked her head for anything about Hon Dao. She knew it existed and that was about it. "I did not know that."

"Now you know."

"Well, tell him to pay the ticket on time. Added fee for a late ticket could get him into trouble. That would be a bigger disgrace."

"Oh, I will definitely remember that." There came a moment of silence. Feeling the stirrings of memory, Nick gave the bunny a once over. Mostly gray fur. White chin. Black tipped ears. And the most striking violet eyes. She seemed familiar. "I know this sound weird, but is that _you,_ Judy? Judy Hopps?"

The bunny eyes widened slightly. "Yes, that's me: A lucky bunny with a pun surname."

"You don't remember me, like at all?"

"Well, should I? I mean, I do know a fox back in Bunny Burrow, who was a big cry baby."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Nice try, Judy, nice try. But for your information, I was nine at the time, and you were not that much better."

She gave him a hug, which Nick gladly accepted. "Nick, it's been so long. You know, I didn't believe it when that cat called your name."

"Heh, and I had my doubts when I paid 15 bucks for that fortune teller. Looks like he deserved it."

"Yup, that's you all right. How is Mister Wilde?"

Nick's eyes shifted to the upper right corner. "Uh, he is in a better place."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Judy's ears drooped down.

"It's okay. Anyhow, is your shift over? Because this random reunion needs to be celebrated. "

"Yes, but-"

He gently nudged the bunny's back, steering her toward the nearest coffee shop he could find. "Great, let's go. A quick chat over a cup of coffee won't hurt."

* * *

The shop Nick chose was the White Pallette, a typical café where aspiring young writers with their expensive laptops spent time writing their novels. Judy managed to snatch a table next to the window, instead of next to some abstract works of art with lines and squiggles (or photographs with nothing but negative space). Both ordered the cheapest cup of coffee on the menu.

(The song White Palette by Tigerlily begins to play)

The first thing Nick noticed about her was the scar on her face, but seeing how he did not want to end all this way too soon, he went to a lighter topic. "How are things at your end, Judy? Are you still trying to make the world a better place?"

"Yeah, that's what I wake up to every day."

"Are you still on your way to becoming an officer?"

"I already am." She moved the bright orange vest over to reveal a shining badge.

"Nice. Wait, so does that mean…?

Now her eyes shifted away. "Oh, the, parking duty is just- you know, newbie things. Everyone has to do it."

"Oh. I'm sure it will work out for you. Anyway, congratulations! I knew you would pull it off."

"Really? Aw, thank you."

"Nah, I'm just saying that to be polite." He leaned back in his chair, a preemptive attempt to avoid a friendly hit from Judy. The bunny leaned forward to try anyway but stopped as Nick continued. "But, yeah. It's nice to be wrong from time to time."

She smiled and said. "Thanks. So, what about you? How is the fancy suit for all mammals business going? Seeing how you are still in one. You look really nice, by the way."

Nick paused. "I gave up on it, recently."

"What, why?"

Nick scratched the back of his head. "You know, sometimes, dreams just don't work. Sometimes it is best to let go and do something else. Not everyone is as strong willed as you."

An article she read recently popped up in Judy's head. The wall of text essentially said an unemployed predator is more likely to turn to crime. "Nick."

"But worry not, I have a backup: A good practical job. I'll bounce back."

"Phew. That's good to hear."

A deer teenager then put two tiny cups of coffee on their table, then left without as much as an _Enjoy._

Nick shrugged. "Well, at least it's enough for one toast." He picked it up and said. "To the future."

"To the future," Judy said and let her cup touched his in a shy clank.

Both then quickly got the roasted bean juice in their systems. They called it that because it sure didn't taste like coffee.

Judy said, "Do you have a phone number, Nick?"

"Oh-kay, that's a little straightforward. Yes. Why?"

Judy pulled out her phone. "Nothing. It's just, I just moved to Zootopia. So, you know, it would be nice to have a friend in the city."

"Sure, I'm fine with it." He waited while she got her phone out and ready.

Her face seemingly lit up. "I'm ready."

"Okay. 555 021 9964, and there you go, one sly fox on speed dial."

(Song ends)

Nick was the first to stand up. "Well, it was nice seeing you, but, I need to go."

Judy looked out through the window. Daylight was leaving. "Me too, I gotta return this before..." She trailed off as she reached for the back of her belt and immediately noticed something was missing. "Where is it?"

Nick looked at her. Seeing her look of alarm, concern drew across his face. "Something wrong, Judy?"

"My ticket dispenser is gone."

"What?"

Her hands pulled the tips of her ears down. "Oh no! It has my whole day's work. Chief Bogo is going to kill me!"

"Woah, no need to freak out. It can't be far. We just need to go back to where we were."

Her hands released the ears. "Aw. Sorry, for dragging you into this."

"No no no, it's fine. It's what friends do."

* * *

Shortly after, both were back on the street.

Nick yelled from his spot checking under a car. "Found it?"

"No," Judy said, her anxiety easy to hear. However, a voice in her head reminded her that she was anxious and losing focus. She took a breath, forcing herself to calm down. It only took a moment of clear thinking to come up with an idea. "Okay, since it's getting dark, let's split up. We're gonna cover more ground that way."

Nick saluted her. The little gesture brought some sense of amusement to her. Nick then pointed behind him, "Yes, madam. I'll go here, you go the other way. That little sucker is bound to show up."

Nick quickly walked away. Once he was out of easy hearing distance, he hid behind a car. He didn't bother looking because he already knew where the little machine was. From afar, Alex waved at him. Nick had a look back at Judy. She was still occupied with looking underneath a row of parked cars. Turning back to Alex, Nick demanded a pass with some gestures. Alex understood immediately. He cocked his arm back and threw the ticket dispenser to Nick, who caught it perfectly. Grinning broadly, the fox ran from his hiding place back to Judy. "Hey! Great news."

Judy instantly sprung up, eyes shining with hope. "You found it?"

"Yup, here it is." He handed it to her. "It got dropped under one of the cars over there."

Judy turned it on. "Phew, yup, still working. Thank goodness." She then looked up. "Oh, thank you, Nick."

He shrugged. "No problem," He thought up something and said. "So, do you want a ride home, or…?"

"No thank you, I have my own, provided by the ZPD. "

"Okay, suit yourself." He then walked away. "See ya, Carrots."

"You're still not letting that name go aren't you?"

"Nope. Bye." He then walked away, not before making the last salute for the day.

Nick was back at the truck. Alex immediately told him. "Nick, remind me to never, ever doubt you. Holy crud, that was smooth."

Nick shrugged. "Yeah, that's just what foxes do."

"You have no idea how big of a bullet we have just dodged. Lesson learned. From now on, I'll avoid City Hall like the plague." Alex checked his phone; it was time for dinner. "So, did you have everything you need?"

"Uh huh, we can head back now."

"Good, how about something fancy for dinner? It's on me. Today is something to be remembered."

"Hum, sure."

Alex put up a fake British accent "Then shall we depart, sir." He then unlocked the door and got in.

Upon starting the car, Alex asked. "So, who was the bunny? I sense some history there."

"Nothing much. Just a naïve little bunny from my childhood."

"Uh huh. With that face, I doubt it." Alex quickly got the car out and into the veins of Zootopia. They drove passed Judy, who gave Nick a wave. Nick did the same.

"So, Mr. Wilde. What is the plan for tomorrow?"

"Now we can finally get to work. Tomorrow, you contact the guy and get the payment done. I'll introduce you to my friends, and we will get this place built in no time."

"Simple enough." Alex then cleared his throat. He tried to make his voice as deep as possible. "And so: with a beacon of hope in our mind, we proceed to-"

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I need to put the time I spent in theater club to use. What are we about to do is build the thing. That is the boring, tedious and hard part. No one wants to hear that. So, I am just trying to make it more exciting with some narration."

"That's cute, but no. Remember, we have three months to pay off a mafia's debt or it is curtains for us. Cold, _icy_ curtains."

* * *

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Acknowledgement:**

I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. He is a wonderful author that I would recommend to anyone. You can check out his profile and stories at your own leisure.

www fanfiction net / u/ 1160012/

 **Disclaimer:**

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.

* * *

(The song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

 **Wild times with Wilde: Renovated**

(Song ends)

 **Chapter 4: The Calm Before the Storm**

A sedan pulled over and parked on the side of a lonely highway. A casually dressed brown bear stepped out of the car and had a look around. He saw nothing but tall grass, artificial hills and derelict structures _._ He ducked so he could look back into the car. Another brown bear, his wife, sat in the passenger seat. He asked her, "Are you sure that this is the right place?"

"I think so," she said, glancing around at the unfamiliar country. She turned back to her husband. "We just need to keep looking." However, she did not sound sure. It was only a rumor that had brought them out here, after all: just words passing from one mouth to another. Words, especially those as sticky as "ice bathtub kidney thieves" or "underground amusement park for predators," were usually proven false, nothing more but urban legends.

With a grunt, the husband walked away to have a look around. He returned shortly. "I don't see anything. Should we head back?"

The female sighed, looking disheartened. She opened her mouth to say yes. However, a soft groan interrupted her. She turned to look into the back seat. Her ten year old son slept across the bench. Seeing the green light shining from his newly applied collar convinced her to keep trying. Without looking away from her boy, she spoke up. "Let's keep going."

The husband and father looked from his wife to his son. He acquiesced with a soft sigh. "Alright." He climbed into the driver seat and started them down the road.

It did not take them long before they came across a new sign. The fresh paint was a stark contrast from the decrepit surroundings. On it was a simple illustration of a fox wearing what kids jokingly called 'the collar of shame' next to a red cross. The fox pointed to a small house on the right. If not for a recently cut path, the grass would have obscured it completely; and what they could see would just be the abandoned dome behind it. The phrase _PREDATORS ONLY_ took a significant amount of space on the sign.

Taking it as being on the right track, the husband turned the car and headed straight to the house with the word _'Clinic'_ painted on the wall. As they approached, parked cars hidden behind the wall of tall grass could be seen. The number of cars signaled some kind of event was being held nearby, but there was no one in sight. The husband moved the car to an empty spot and parked it.

The mother reached over her seat to gently shake her child awake. "Sweetie, we're here. We found it."

The cub awoke with a yawn, one he hastily cut short when he realized his teeth were showing. The family exited the car and had a walk around the clinic. It looked like one of those model homes rather than an actual functioning medical facility. The father tapped on the exterior wall. The sound suggested that these walls were extremely thin and cheap. With caution, the mother stepped through the front door. As she looked around, she noted it looked like any small town clinic. It had stretchers, beds, medicine cabinets, and a framed certificate framed hung high on the wall. The only difference was that the smell of antiseptics was much weaker.

"Hello?" She said.

"Yeah?" a deep voice answered. It came from behind and below the receptionist counter. Curios, the mother bear approached the counter. She shouted in surprise and her collar nearly went off when a fennec fox jumped onto the counter. His voice suggested him to be the pinnacle of masculinity, but his diminutive proportion and the pink nurse uniform gave a different impression. His name tag was way too small for anyone to read. Her family heard the yelp, and immediately came to her aid, only to stand there and look in confusion at the fox.

After about three seconds of silence, the fox said, "What? You got a problem with the outfit?"

"No! Uh, no sir. We were just passing by," the mother said.

The father then said, "I was just wondering. Is this the place predators were talking about?" He leaned in to whisper, "Wild Times?"

"Do I look like a real nurse to you?" the fox asked sarcastically. "'Course you're in the right place." The fox jumped down from the counter. "Follow me."

The bear family followed the tiny fox to the back door of the clinic. They opened the door, revealing a worn red carpet that led to the dome behind the clinic. On the outside of the door, which looked more like a warehouse to the bears, there was a shack with a sign that said 'Collar Check.' The family could hear voices mixed in with occasional roars of excitement coming from within the dome. The fox led them to the shack, which was guarded by an overweight cheetah in a security uniform. His nametag read 'B. Clawhauser'. He greeted the family with a cheerful smile, something infinitely more pleasant than what his fox colleague had done.

The fox jumped on the shack's counter and took his place behind the cash register. "Twenty dollars per ticket for three. That'll be sixty dollars." The fox said. As the father handed over the cash, the cheetah pulled out a familiar, beat up collar scanner and gently opened the family members' collars. Alex had not modified the device much during the past few months. He added a new lens so that the beam could go a little further and replaced the old batteries with rechargeable ones. So far, the device had proven itself useful enough to stop there.

As the cheetah placed the collars on a rack of hooks, with each hook numbered, the fox gave the bear family three plastic tags. The tags were numbered, each matching to one of the hooks holding their collar. "Have a wonderful time." The cheetah said upon inviting them to walk through the main gate. Seeing how nervous the cub was, he then added: "Enjoy yourself, little buddy." As the family passed through the dome's main gate, it was like they entered another world.

(The song Parade by Susumu Hirasawa begins to play)

Inside looked more like a fair carnival than an amusement park, but none of the predators roaming around seemed to be bothered by that. There was very little natural light since the glass part of the ceiling had been covered with black paint. It gave the impression of an indoor stadium, though some of the midday light still pierced through cracks in the glass and corroded metal tiles. The shade provided by the roof made the brightly lit Wild Times welcome sign stand out more. Mounted lights on the walls made up for the lack of natural light. There were wooden cutouts of palm trees, mountains and the like everywhere. Although they were not a real landscape, they gave off the vibe of being surrounded by something like nature. With the budget Nick had, something like nature would do.

The bear cub looked up in awe at the lone roller coaster. The tracks slithered around the perimeter of the park, rising and falling randomly. The ride started from a raised platform decorated to look like a waterfall. Above it was a sign that read 'Roar-a-Coaster'. The attraction ended a few meter away from main the entrance. Over the last few meters of the tracks was an elaborate system of water hoses, along with a waterproof camera with a cutout of Nick saying 'Smile'. The bear family paused to watch, curious to see how the ride would play out. As the train was reaching its destination, the hoses activated. They were set to a gentle, fanned out spray, instead of the traditional forceful single stream. This made the experience of getting water on their fur similar to friends having fun with super soakers rather than a surprise assault. The splashing water was enough to generate a feeling of suddenly crashing into a river. All the predators responded to that with an amused (and caught-off-guard) yell; the camera clicked the moment that amusement reached its peak. With unbridled excitement, the bear cub said, "Mom, I want to try that!"

After reassuring her boy that they would get to it later, the cub and his family began the long and rewarding process of enjoying everything Wild times had to offer.

Underneath the starting point of the Roar-a-Coaster was an attraction called ' _CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!_ ' Alex created this by recycling an old merry-go-round. He got it surprisingly cheap because the motor was beyond repair. Instead of finding a replacement, Nick suggested that Alex turn the relic into a generator, powered by predators' energy. With the experience provided by dozens of lawnmowers generators, the cat did just that. From the outside, the ride was a glorified circle treadmill that three predators could use in one go. Three hoops suspended by bungee cords held the predators in one spot. All they to do was run to keep the floor underneath them moving. This spun the makeshift generator hidden underneath and churned out electricity to help power Wild Times. The energy created was transferred to a rack of industrial batteries hidden somewhere in the ground. To make sure the customer did not feel tricked, the amount of energy was displayed on a screen as a score. Whoever gained the highest score in the shortest amount of time would get a free souvenir. However, some customers said they could not care less about the score. Instead, the idea of an endless chase interested them more.

In a standard amusement park, the roller coaster is the highest point of the facility. However, things were a little different at Wild times. The highest point was a series of rope drawbridges connected to each other into a long racetrack. These bridges, like the ground below, were decorated with cutouts of tree and foliage, which gave the racetrack plenty of places for predators to take cover. With a name like _Cheetah Run,_ it was obvious for whom this attraction was made for.

'Jump and Stick' was an idea that the Wild Times employees (all four of them) doubted at first, but once put in motion, only three were skeptical about it. It was essentially a trampoline laid in front of a giant crash mat wheel covered in Velcro. When asked, Suzy, a seven year old customer, described the experience as, "Instead of the stuff stick to your fur, you stick to the stuff." Nick painted a bullseye on the wheel, making the game essentially mammal-sized darts. To give some form of variation to the attraction, Alex installed within it a bigger version of his university project: The Infinite Wheel. At its core, the wheel had the structure of a slightly adjusted bicycle wheel with multiple moving iron balls at different locations. As the wheel began to turn, so were the balls. Since the balls were at different locations at all times, their weights would constantly be shifting around. This along with the balls' momentums became the force that kept the wheel turning forever. With only four employees and one president, an attraction that could run itself was welcome.

The attraction that gave the Wild Times crew the most trouble was called _Go Fishing._ A predator would step on a few stones in the middle of a huge lake and waited for rubber fish to shoot up from the water. The goal was to simply, catch as many fish as one could. This seemingly simple concept took the crew a full week to complete. Creating compressed air cannons to shoot rubber fish was hard enough, but laid those cannons underneath the water and had a reloading mechanic to top it off was near impossible. If not for Nick's constant encouragement, the crew would not have completed it. In the end, Nick was right for keeping this idea going, for it was one of the attractions that predator enjoyed the most. Even if predators were just mucking about, slapping at the fish instead of catching them.

'Upstream' was much simpler by comparison. A predator would only need to run on a log placed above a shallow pond. As the log turned, it triggered a system of cogs and gears that tossed the rubber fish toward the predator. The challenge of the attraction came automatically with its design. The predator needed to achieve a certain speed for the fish to start flying. As they picked up speed, so did the fish. Catching the fish, running along on top of the log, maintaining speed and keeping balance on a slippery surface were all things you had to do and it became harder and harder for anyone to juggle all the tasks at once. Only those who could master these tasks _and_ do them simultaneously would earn a picture of themselves on the Wall of Fame and a free souvenir.

Of course, not everything in Wild times could be big and grandiose. With the shoestring budget and the tight deadline provided by Koslov, Nick had to cut some corners and create some relatively low-tech attractions. Some of these attractions were even self-sufficient and required little to no supervision.

One of these attractions was the 'Scratch and Sniff', which was a collection of tall palm trees nailed to the ground. Many predators (mostly bears) would use these trees as a way to scratch their backs.

There was also the 'Nocturnal Maze', which was self-explanatory. It was the only attraction with no light source, except for the title sign.

There was also a carnival style strong mammal test called 'Bite Me'. Instead of slamming down a hammer and ringing the bell on top, predators big and small would bite on a mock burger made of hard rubber and wood. The bell then determined whether you have the force of the mightiest of predators or a teeny tiny house cat. Apparently, Nick's fennec fox friend was the former.

There were a few attractions for those in the cat family as well. These included the 'Ball of Yarn Pit' (again, very literal and concrete with its name) and 'Laser Tag' (not the painless paintball kind but the cat chase after a laser dot kind). Because of the lack of smaller cats in the city, the top customers for these attractions were all larger cats like lions and tigers.

Wild times also had a small arcade section, filled with machines that Nick's gang salvaged and Alex repaired. The most popular machine was the _So You Think You Can Prance?_ , a modified version of the traditional arcade dance game. The old exploitations of 'frustration become coins' and 'competition becomes coins' were still in use in this area.

And of course, no amusement park would be complete without a souvenir shop. Being the second place with a cash register, it was supervised at all time by a badger with the nametag Honey. A glare was eternally affixed to her face that said she did not want anyone or anything to bother her and most visiting predators respected her space. The shop had everything you might expect: there were clocks with Nick's sly mug on it; snowglobes with miniature Wild Times; key chains and the like. On the shop's wall there were three signs with messages on them. The first sign read, 'Keep a part of Wild Times with you' written by hand, like most other signs in the park. Next to it were two signs that were obviously printed electronically in a rigid, bold Bodoni font: 'Just remember not to show it to the police' and 'No seriously, just don't'.

Walking in between these attractions was Nick, president of Wild Times. He was on his way to reset the park's latest attraction, 'Howl Along'. The name was just a fancier (not to mention shorter) title for a karaoke-stage-for-wolves-and-howling-enthusiasts. The stage was in front of a few rows of recycled cushioned seats. On the sides were two speakers and two TV screens. Nick stepped on the stage and gathered all the wolves (and howling enthusiasts) attention. "Alright everyone! Wolf or not, it's time." With a tap on his phone, he dimmed the light around the stage and lowered a model of the moon which was actually a disco ball covered in papier-mâché, paint, and industrial glue. He pressed _replay_ on the DVD player, making the text 'Ohhhhh! Ohhhhh! Ohhhhhhhhh!' with some night mountains background appeared on the screen.

Nick then said, "On three. One, two, three, howl!"

The wolves (and howling enthusiasts), did what their instincts and the screens told them to. The sound of howling started to rival that of the Roar-a-Coaster.

Nick shouted, pouring all of his energy into his next encouragement, "C'mon! You guys can do better than that!"

Pouring in everything they had, the group managed to howl a little louder, but still could not top the roar from afar.

Nick applauded anyway, then gave everyone a thumb up, "That was amazing! You guys should be proud of yourselves."

(Song end)

The mock clinic's back door swung open as Alex dragged himself in, the familiar gym bag not far behind. The plastic takeout bags in his free hand had increased in size these past few months.

"Hey, look at what the cat dragged in." The fennec fox commented on Alex's torturous trek to the Collar Check shack.

Alex fake laughed in harmony with his heavy breathing. "Ha. Ha. Ha. That one will _never_ stop being funny." Finally reaching his goal, he laid the plastic bag on the counter. "Good day, Finnick. Ben." He took a deep breath. "I brought lunch, like always."

Clawhauser said, "Thank you! I was _starving_."

While Clawhauser began to tear into his Bug Burger, Finnick said, "Kid, you need to sit down. You look like hell."

Alex smirked sarcastically through a grimace. " _There's_ a compliment if I've ever heard one." He hopped up and sat on the counter, then proceeded to lay flat on his back with his legs dangling over the edge. Feeling his back loosened up somewhat, his pinched expression relaxed. "Yeah, maybe that's a good idea,"

Finnick tapped the kid in the side of his head with his foot. "Why do you keep working for the wherever place anyway? We already have Nick's little show to worry about."

Alex chuckled. "It's complicated. Let's just say I worked really hard to get that early shift job. It would be kinda wasteful to just quit. Thanks for the concern, though. Now, would you excuse me, I gotta get back to work." Alex then sprang up and got his feet back on the ground. He then grabbed the plastic bag with only two boxes remained.

He walked through the lake of predators in Wild times and headed for the gift shop. The early shift had always drained him so much that he felt virtually no urge to be involved in Laser Tag and Ball of Yarn Pit. However, the sight of his own kind and some species of big cats enjoying those kinds of attractions always brought a smile to his face.

There was a family of five cats standing in front of the gift shop. He could see Honey as she passed a snow globe to a small kitten that could not have been more than six years old. The thing was much larger than her hand, so it was no surprise to when the globe went tumbling to the ground. The souvenir rolled and stopped at Alex's feet. He picked up the snow globe and shook it about a little. The fake snow reminded him of the days he used to live in a mega cheap apartment in Tundra Town. When he saw the girl's image through the globe, he stopped staring at it and knelt down. He clasped the globe with two hands, with the girl instantly mimicking him. He then gently placed it in her palms. The little kitten smiled brightly, showing off her missing tooth. Then she surprised him by speaking a language that was foreign to Zootopia, but which he knew. She said, "Cam on chu." [Thank you, uncle]

It had been awhile since he had heard his mother tongue. Thankfully, he still remembered how to respond. "Khong co chi," [You're welcome], he said before giving the kid a pat on the head. Then he stood, giving the cat family his friendliest smile and wave as they walked away.

He walked behind the gift shop counter, leaving a box on it as he went. Honey's number one policy was 'care for nothing' so Alex did not waste time trying to make small talk with her. With the last box in the bag, he searched for Nick. After a few minutes, he spotted the fox as he climbed the ramp up to the starting platform of the Roar-a-Coaster. Following after him, he found Nick in the middle of manually resetting the ride. After Nick had finished, Alex gave him a light tap on the shoulder. Nick turned around. "Hey, Nick, how is everything going?" Alex asked him.

The fox shrugged, "Pretty good, like always. You?"

"Just..." Alex paused a bit "...dandy." He tried to smile, but it came out as a grin so manic that it looked like he was about punch Nick in the face.

"Uh huh, with that face, I doubt it."

Alex whispered under his breath. "Gosh darn foxes." He then said aloud, "Anyhow, I'll take my shift now. Just go take a break or sort out the finances or something."

"Are you sure you can take it? You look really beaten down."

"Pft! This is just my natural state of being. I feel like a good for nothing bum if my hands are not moving."

"Okay. You're in charge." Nick gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"What's up with the formality? We have this conversation every day." Alex then handed Nick his gym bag. "Can you leave my bag at my workplace? I can't be bothered with it today."

"Sure, no problem." Nick took the gym bag and headed away.

Alex was left in control. His job only needed him to repeat the same tasks as Nick. Open this gate, pull this lever, turn this knob, trigger this, replace that, reload this. All simple tasks. The only different was that his levels of enthusiasm and energy were much lower than Nick. However, as long as the attractions were functioning and the lines were moving, Alex was good enough. "Thank you and please enjoy the ride," Alex repeated the same line (with some variation depending on the attraction) throughout the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes, his work was shaken up a bit when one of the machines had issues. However, he and everyone else wished instances like happened as scarcely as possible.

Despite the job being tedious, boring and not feeling all that world changing, the happy faces he and the gang (as Nick called them) received made it all worthwhile. When closing time was coming, Alex's greeting line suddenly changed to, "Oh, Master Koslov! What a surprise!"

Koslov loomed over him, a threatening shadow. "The feeling is mutual, Harry, or should I say, Alex. I never knew that you were interested in the entertainment business."

Knew that his cover had been blown, he just pretend a cheeky smile and shifted the subject away. "Well, you know, gotta put food on any-available-surface somehow. This guy was hiring anybody so why not?" Alex looked around for a way to escape. "What brings you here sir? Our president told us that he had taken care of all the payment and debts a few months ago." Alex then turned to the left. A quick way to escape Koslov's judging eyes and an attempt to tell the line behind Koslov to wait for one cycle. The self-made rollercoaster could only hold one Mr. Big. However, Alex realized the Koslov was the only customer in line.

Koslov said, with his hand on his chest. "He is not wrong, but that is not why I am here. I have heard that this place is an amusement for all predators. Am I… not welcome here?"

Alex's spine stiffened. "No sir, absolutely not!" Noticing how loud that answer was, Alex lowered his tone. "Sorry, sir, it's just a- ah-," his eyes started shifting "quite a sight to- to see someone of your stature- I mean status!- visit a place like ours."

Koslov put his paw on Alex's shoulder. Though it was a gentle pat for Koslov, the force on Alex's shoulder made him fight down a wince, hard. "Son, you need to calm down. I might be Mr. Big to you, but here, I'm just like any other predator. No need to be so alarmed. I just want to relax, like everyone else."

"Yes, sir. I'll get the rollercoaster ready in a minute."

Alex opened the gate and allowed Koslov to step into the cart. He then snapped the seatbelt as quickly as he could. Before he could escape the cart, Koslov said, "Thank you, Alexander." Koslov's accent was still as thick as a tank shell, but Alex could feel it soften up a little.

Dumbstruck by his words, Alex said "Your welcome, sir." through an awkward smile.

As Alex walked to the control panel, the huge polar bear popped a few knuckles and said, "All right, let's see how _wild_ your little park can be."

Alex would be lying if he said he did not feel some sense of satisfaction upon clutching that lever. "Let's find out, sir." With a genuine smile, he pulled the lever.

Koslov's enthusiastic hollering was so loud that the remaining customers decided that they had had enough for one day. With a distinct lack of customers, the gang gathered around the number one (and now _only_ ) source of sound in the place.

Seeing a humongous polar bear with his hands in the air while yelling at the top of his lungs, Clawhauser commented, "Don't know if I should find that disturbing or adorable."

Nick approached them and asked. "Huh. Can anyone tell me why Koslov is riding the Roar-a-Coaster?"

"He's a paying customer, I know that much," Finnick answered.

Clawhauser, apparently, could not let his question go unanswered. "Guys, do you think it's disturbing or adorable?"

Honey kept her stoic expression and said, "Let's vote on it. All for adorable, raise your hand." Only the cheetah raised his. "Disturbing." Honey and the two foxes raised their arms. "The vote is complete. And like anything a government might do, it changes nothing."

* * *

With Koslov being the last satisfied customer to leave, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and closed up the main gate of Wild Times. On any usual Friday night, they would bring a respectable amount of alcohol (enough for a nice buzz and a tolerable hangover the next day) and two soda bottles for Alex. That night, however, they brought a little more. Maybe it was because of Koslov or maybe it was because they had kept Wild Times running for so long. Either way, one of them was not going to work tomorrow. They gathered around Nick's old work table and started to cover its surface with beverages. As Nick was about to make the first toast, he received a call. After a quick look at the screen, he said, "You guys go on ahead. I need to take this one." He then headed for his office upstairs, which was originally the control room of the factory.

The remaining mammals did not bother with the toast. It was something Nick liked to do and none of them felt comfortable doing it in his absence. Instead, they took the opportunity to drink individually. Alex popped a bottle of soda and drank half of it in a single, long quaff. He pulled the bottle away with a satisfied "Ahhh," enjoying the mild sizzle of carbonation in his throat.

Finnick, who had already finished a bottle of beer on his own, said: "C'mon kid, there are times in your life when you need to mammal the hell up and get some booze in your system."

"Finnick, I have told you a hundred of times: Cats have very low tolerance for alcohol."

Honey stepped in, putting some peer pressure on him. Usually, when Nick was around, he would shelter the kid from the harder drinking members of the group. _Might as well have fun with it_ , she thought. With a stern face, she said. "That's a load of hogwash. You know who say that a lot? Politicians. Do you know why? Because drunks are the most honest of animals. What do you have to hide, Alex?"

Alex glared at them. With an _I'll show you!_ spirit and pure grit, he grabbed a beer bottle. Juggling eye contact between Honey and Finnick, he popped the bottle open, letting the foam erupt. Alex shut his eyes tight, bit down on the lip of the bottle and quite literally made the bottom go up. He started drinking down the cold, heavy liquid as fast as he could. At the half waypoint, his gag reflex kicked in, but he kept on going until there was nothing left in the bottle. He yanked the empty bottle out and started coughing. The back of his throat was now truly on fire; he could feel it stinging and swelling up.

Finnick slapped Alex in the back. "There we go! That's wasn't so hard isn't it?"

Alex nodded and picked up another bottle of beer and repeated the process. Just like that, he had downed another bottle.

Clawhauser looked concerned and tried to speak up. "Woah, slow down there little buddy! You're going to-"

Honey silenced him. "Shush, Clawhauser, he's just proving himself. C'mon, don't be shy. Let's see what you are made of."

Alex took that as a dare and gladly accepted it. He struggled a bit with this bottle; it took him much longer to finish it. Alex heart rate was telling him to stop, but his rapidly clouding mind, Finnick, and Honey were saying otherwise. Soon, another bottle was done, then another. For a moment, the world around Alex turned to this static comic of black and white, as if the alcohol had washed away all the colors. Without warning, he fell from the chair and laid flat on the ground.

Clawhauser said. "Eh, is he, supposes to do that?"

Honey said before getting back to her drink. "Heh, maybe he was telling the truth after all."

Clawhauser said, clearly concerned, "Should we get him to a hospital?"

Honey said, "Well, Nick is the doctor here. He'll check on the kid later. How about you, Nurse Finnick? What are your thoughts?"

Finnick jumped down and checked on Alex's vitals. He was still breathing normally. It was a typical case of drinking too quick and too many: Something Finnick knew about all too well. "My official diagnosis: The kid will wake up with some actual hair on his chest! Also, it looks like he is not working tomorrow."

Nick stepped into his office. He closed the door to shut out the noise from the party below. However, he forgot to lock the door again (a terrible habit that Alex claimed he would regret one day). Nick had missed the first call, but soon, another one came. He swiped to answer. He said in his traditional tone. "Heyyy, Carrots! How are you doing?" He waited for a reply, but what he got was strange watery sound. "Eh, Judy, are you crying?"

It took a while for her to respond. "No- _hic!-_ I'm- I'm just freaking out right now. _hic!_ "

"Okay, that's not better." Nick locked the door of his office. "Tell me what happened."

Judy suddenly screamed, "NO YOU TWO SHUT UP!". The bunny's fury rattled Nick's eardrum.

After the ringing sound in his ear had subsided, he asked, "Uh, who was that?"

"My neighbors."

"Ohhhhhhkay. How about we get to the core of the problem before too many animals get involved in this?" He took a seat behind his desk and asked, "So, again, what's the matter?"

"I don't know, Nick. Just everything."

He winced, "Um, I know it's a bit much to ask, but can you be specific?"

"It's just so- Everything is just so hard. I keep telling myself to stay strong- _hic!-_ and everything is going to be okay. Baby steps, you know. Climb that ladder. But it just doesn't work. I have been working as a meter maid for over six months. Six months Nick! Six months and I am at square one. That and everyone hates me."

"Oh c'mon Carrots, it can't be that bad. I don't hate you."

There was a long pause, mixed in with some sobbing. "Thanks, Nick. What I meant is all the mammals on the force hate me, and Chief Bogo just despises me. Anyone who got a ticket detests me and- _hic!-_ some even threaten me. Your friend's reaction was tame compared to some of them and they were preys. It has been six months, and nothing's changed. Same streets, same hateful animals in and outside headquarters."

"Wait, inside the force? Don't they have, like, a Mammal Resources department for that? You can sue them."

"No, it's not that kind of hate Nick. They just either turn a blind eye to me or give me that _look._ No one bothers talking or listen to me. It's like I don't exist to them. As if I'm just a piece of furniture that was not supposed to be there."

"Judy, maybe."

"I can deal with skeptics, heck, even my parent are skeptics. I can get through that. Just. FINE! But- but, I have not done _anything_ , but stick tickets to mammals' cars and just make their day a little worse. That's all I have done during the past six months." Her voice was slowly drowned back in tears. "My parents said they were coming over next week." She took short gasps for air. "I can't tell them that their little daughter, who used their hard-earned money to go to the police academy, is a meter maid living in a rundown apartment with neighbors constantly screaming at her. I can't, Nick. I can't tell them that the dream I have been working so hard toward- _hic!-_ is actually worse than being a carrot farmer." Nick could hear some slamming sound. Something told him that was not the neighbor banging on a table. "I should have just quit when I was ahead."

Nick stepped on the ice, despite knowing how thin it was, "Sorry, but I got to stop you right there." Nick gave her a few seconds, just to confirm that she was listening to him. "It's okay, Judy. It's okay."

"No, it's not, Nick! I'm just- I'm falling apart. I can't keep this up."

"No, I understand, I'm not going to tell you to hold on to your dream and sing a pop song about it. You are talking to a guy that has given up on a dream he shared with his father. But, I can see you are getting- er, what's the word?- Emotionally exhausted. I feel you. It's hard, yes, but, it's going to be _much_ harder if you are tired and all worked up. Freaking out is only making everything worse. Now, _breathe_."

"Okay. Okay," Judy said. Nick could hear her take in some deep breaths.

"So, before you decide to give up on your dream or doing anything else, have a rest. And NO, not a quick nap or anything. Have an ACTUAL rest. Sleep in for once, call a sick day. I'm sure the world is not going to blow up without a few parking tickets. Maybe when your body is strong, and your mind is clear, you will be able to think it through."

"I don't know, Nick, I can't do it on my own. I have tried similar things. I'll just fall back to this state again."

"I see. So..." He opened up a notebook on his desk. "How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow?"

There was another long pause. "You mean, like a date?"

"Woah, woah, woah! Gotta slow down there, Carrots. No, it's more like a counseling session. Instead of with an expensive old guy taking notes on you and your relationship with your mother, you have a friend listen to you and help you figure things out. I can't do that on the phone right now and well, with you all soaked in tears like this. So, what do you say?"

"I think- _hic!-_ it's a great idea. I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything. Just rest, okay?"

"Uh huh."

"In that case, I will see you tomorrow. Are you still sobbing?" After a moment of guilty silence over the phone, he sighed. "I have to go now. Bye."

"Goodbye, Nick. Thanks again."

* * *

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


	5. Chapter 5

**Acknowledgement:**

I would like to thank ADeadMissionary for helping me edit this chapter. You can check out his profile and stories at your own leisure.

www fanfiction net / u/ 1160012/

 **Disclaimer:**

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.

* * *

(The song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

 **Wild times with Wilde: Renovated**

(Song ends)

 **Chapter 5: The Perfect Storm**

It was 9 A.M, 14th June. To Judy, the day started out just like any other. She woke up, jumped from her creaking bed and did a few stretches. Something in her back always snapped as she did, the muscles tightening and loosening themselves, soothing the aches left behind by her lumpy mattress. She snapped up from her last bone-popping pose, ears erect and eyes shining. She felt refreshed, great even. The day was long ahead and for once she did not have to worry about anything (at least not yet). She looked at the clock on her little desk. She had slept for 8 hours and 30 minutes straight, something that only happened on Sunday for her.

As usual, she had a slice of bread with peanut butter for breakfast. A necessary meal to balance out all the high-in-sugar carrots that she consumed each day. The rabbit quickly finished her snack and get dressed. Maybe a casual walk would make her feel even better, she thought.

After a few minutes, Judy left her apartment. It was hot out that day. The forecast app on her phone claimed it would stay that way for the rest of the weekend (the perfect weather for an outing). She wandered around Zootopia, reliving brief flashbacks of those awestruck moments she'd had when she first set foot in this city. Back then, everything had been so bright and colorful. Everyone was constantly on the move and so lively. Now that she was used to it, it did not seem so magical anymore.

Judy kept on walking forward. Once in awhile, her feet made a left or a right turn. She planned on wasting time until lunch and then wasting some more time until dinner. She was particularly looking forward to dinner. The bunny traveled to a part of town she had not yet visited. One filled with lots of alleyways and more shabby apartments.

Something caught her attention. A group of predators was gathered in a nearby alleyway. There were six of them, all dressed like high schoolers on the weekend. Normally, she would not have noticed this sort of thing, because 'a second lost would be a ticket lost.' Now, with all the time in the world, Judy could afford curiosity. She started following the group as they headed for a nearby train station. Their spirits were high, each of them laughing and joking the whole way.

Something in Hopps's mind interpreted a group of predators wanting to spend their Saturday having fun as something alarming. Maybe it was because one of the predators would stop and look around suspiciously. Maybe it was something her colleagues, the ' _real cops',_ would do. Maybe she just perceived a group of predators as something worth checking.

However, the moment they stepped on the highway and started walking out of the city, she knew something was up. A few minutes before they reached the edge of the city, the predators looked back one last time. Judy ducked out of sight just in time, hiding in some tall grass just off the road. They pierced their gaze to the end of the highway, making sure that there was no car in sight. Confident the road was clear, they all shouted excitedly. "Wooooooooo!" they howled, then turned and started running full speed down the road. Hearing the rapid slaps of hind paws on pavement, Judy began to run as well. Keeping to the tall grass that ran along the road, Judy used her superb hearing and swift feet to catch up.

She froze as the sound of the predators' feet suddenly stopped. _Had they discovered her?_ She strained her hearing for a clue. There was the sound of grass crunching under foot, but it was heading away from her. They were walking off the highway. They were still joking, something about punching all the fish.

Judy waited for a moment before advancing. Once she did, a clearing and a sign with a fox in the collar of shame came into view. _A clinic? For predators only?_ Her mind then tried to piece all that together. Maybe these predators were just trying to get to this clinic, after all. However, she shot that scenario down immediately. _Who would visit a clinic so far out of town? And why would they be so excited?_ She had a closer look at the sign. Something about it seemed oddly familiar, especially the handwriting.

She turned and went along the trail of cut grass. Soon, she stumbled upon a clearing full of cars, all of which neatly parked around the unnamed 'clinic'. She quickly ran to the side of the building, keeping her posture low to evade the view from the window. She pressed her hands against the wall, feeling how flimsy it was. _This doesn't seem to be built up to code,_ she thought. With her ear pressed against the wall, she traced the mumbling sound from within. That sound made all the way to the back of the clinic. Reached the edge of the wall, she stopped and observed. The first thing she saw baffled her.

It was a chubby cheetah unlocking the collar for one of the young predators, smiling cheerfully and welcoming them. _How?_ The thought sparked in her head. Instinct told her to jump in the tall grass on the side. The employees in charge of the Collar Check would have seen her if they had just turned to the left.

Slowly, steadily, she approached the giant hangar behind the mock clinic. Judy got to the wall of the hangar and found a line of ladders nailed to the wall. Her mind was about to go nuts at how this had violated so many safety procedures. However, no violation could top seeing how the T.A.M.E shock collars had been unlocked like security tags from the local mall. She no longer cared what was wrong anymore: She just wanted some answers. Judy grabbed the first ladder, only for the thing to creak loudly under her weight. It was then she caught a message scribbled on the rusted wall. _For the love of everything holy, Ben, don't climb this!_ She did not know who Ben was, but she hoped that he was not a rabbit.

After a slightly nerve wracking climb Judy got herself on the roof. The near midday heat was not too bad up there. As she started to walk around, she wondered why every window was covered with such a thick coat of black paint. Slight vibrations ran under her feet, punctuated by the screams of excitement and howling. She approached one of the blackened windows and had a peek through a crack. She was confused for a moment, feeling as if she was looking into one of those expensive dollhouses on TV. This dollhouse appeared to be called _Wild Times_ and instead of a castle or a mansion, this dollhouse was a fair of some sort. She was surprised to see dozens of predators wandering about, enjoying the rides. She even spotted the group of predators from before in line for the Go Fishing attraction. With all of the lights and sounds and movement, it took her a while to realize that none of the predators were wearing their collars. Once she caught on, she immediately realized, _Of course, that's what the Collar Check is for!_

However, none of this was as surprising to her as seeing Nick amongst the crowd. The bunny rubbed her eyes, thinking that would somehow make his image change to another fox. When she looked back, she found nothing had changed. It was still Nick. She squinted her eyes and had a better look at what he was doing. The idea of Nick being one of the customers was shattered when he pulled the lever of the Roar-a-Coaster. Judy turned away from the glass and sat on the roof. She hid her face with her paws, completely lost. After a second or two, she pulled out her phone and had a look at it. The glare caused by the midday sun caused her some trouble, but she managed to pull up her contact list. A doubt ran through her head, but before she could second guess herself, she tapped Nick's number.

Feeling a buzz, Nick stopped what he was doing and pulled out his phone. He raised a brow as did so, curious. Usually, no one would call him at this hour, so it might be important. Seeing the screen flash the name Carrots made him a little worried. _Did she decide to cancel the whole thing? Or did something go wrong again?_ Abandoning his post, he ran toward the Collar Check. When he arrived, he said, "Hey, Clawhauser! Can you fill my spot? I have an emergency call."

"Oh, sure. No Problem, Nick." The cheetah saluted him.

As Nick sprinted toward his office, Finnick told Clawhauser. "I bet ya 50 bucks that's the girl on the line."

The larger mammal made his 'Awwwww' face. "Who do you think the lucky vixen is?"

"The kid said she's no vixen, I know that much." Finnick shrugged. "Anyway, I think you should take his post. The line is getting long."

Nick quickly entered his office and closed the door. Once again, he forgot to lock it. He turned to the window that watched over the park and answered his phone. Behind him, his office door creaked open. His Wild-Times'-president-energy oozed through the line as he spoke, "Hey! Good morning, Carrots. How are you feeling today? Any better?"

"Kinda. Something is still bothering me. I can't shake it off for some reason."

Nick chuckled, "Well, I can't help you with that. I'm no psychiatrist, but I can lend you some money to get a good one."

"Oh please. I can take care of myself."

"Suit yourself. So, what's the occasion? You're not canceling the dinner, are you? I already booked the place."

"No. I was just wandering around. I don't know what to do, so I decided to bother you a little. Is this a bad time?"

He looked out at the park and spotted Clawhauser having some trouble with the console that ran the Roar-a-Coaster. "Ehhhh, I'm kinda busy right now. So, find your own answer in that."

She paused. "Sorry about that. Nick, are you enjoying your work?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, it is not as glamorous as being a meter maid, but it's good enough. It's a little loud, though."

"I see." She took a deep breath then exhaled. "Guess I should let you get back to it. See you tonight, then."

"I'll pick you up at 7 near your place. See you around, Carrots."

"Stop calling me that."

"Not in a million years. Bye." He hung up the phone with a smile on his face.

Nick turned around and to find an uninvited guest standing in the open doorway. Raising a dart gun, the wolf in a trench coat gave Nick no chance respond before he fired. A syringe speared into Nick's right arm. The fox looked down at the dart in shock, flabbergasted. He looked up at the wolf, an expletive on his lips, but was cut off as his body convulsed. He collapsed to his hands and knees, barely keeping from landing flat on his face. He gasped as he felt his heart race in his chest and his body begin to burn from the poison coursing through his veins. His neck and shoulder muscles tensed up. The fox's chest tightened, feeling like his lungs were crushed. His vision began to grow hazy, a red fog descending over everything.

Unnoticed, the wolf calmly walked to the ailing fox's side and removed the dart from his arm. Pocketing the syringe, he walked out of the office, quickly and quietly.

Behind him, Nick began to claw at the floor, leaving long gouges in the wood. As his thoughts were overtaken, he completely forgot about keeping the park running or dinner with Judy. He no longer thought with words. Instead only a savage instinct remained: BITE AND CHEW.

Just as the wolf stepped down from the stairs and disappeared into the crowd, Judy resumed her spot at the window to observe the park. A confused jumble of thoughts ran through her mind.

 _Maybe he has a good explanation._

 _At least all the predators are contained._

 _I mean, it's not like anyone got hurt from this._

 _To be fair, some of the rides look kinda fun._

 _I wouldn't mind trying one of those._

 _Maybe I could blackmail Nick into it._

 _What are you saying, Judy? That's not being an officer is about._

 _Would you just face the music already? You are not a real officer. You're a meter maid. If they don't take you seriously, why should you? Have some fun for once._

 _No, I can't do that. What'd happen if-_

A floodgate of distressed screams broke her thoughts. Judy saw the predators were crowding toward the exit. From her high vantage point, it looked like a colony of ants whose nest had just been stepped on. When she looked in the opposite direction, what she saw made her cover her mouth.

Nick was on all fours, his claws stuck out like knives. His dilated pupils were fixed on his prey. He pounced and started swiping his claws left and right, ferociously attacking the badger in charge of the gift shop. The only thing that prevented her from being torn apart was a small wooden door ripped straight from the shop. The badger was using it as a shield, which worked great at first. But as Nick clawed and hammered at it, cracks began to appear, threatening to tear the door apart. Fortunately, a rock flew to the side of Nick's head. The sudden sharp pain distracted Nick from Honey, giving her the perfect window to run away.

Watching the attack made Judy's breaths turn fast and shallow. She touched the side of her cheek where the three scars resided. They began to sting with phantom pain.

Down at the park, after throwing the stone, Finnick yelled at the top of his lungs. "Hey, Jackass. Over here!" He waved his tiny arms, hogging all Nick's attention to himself. Nick snarled at him. The fox crouched down, muscles bunching. Finnick knew all too well what Nick was about to do. He muttered to himself. "This is a horrible idea." Nick lunged at him. Finnick quickly back stepped, gained some distance away from Nick. As Nick was about to make a consecutive attack, a flashing red dot moved from Nick's forehead to his right eye. The intense light made the fox recoil and wince. The red laser dot did not let up, as Nick opened his eyes, it continued the assault on them. That caused the fox to bash his head to the ground as if that somehow would rub away the blinding red in his eye.

"What is happening to him?" Clawhauser said as he clutched tight to the improvised laser tag gun, which was just a hair dryer with a laser pointer attached. The cheetah could feel the handle of the gun starting to get slippery.

While backing away alongside Clawhauser, Finnick said, "I don't know, but I ain't sticking around to find out." Finnick turned around, yelled. "Everybody get out! We are experiencing technical difficulties!" That would not be needed for the park was nearly empty when he said that. Seeing how Nick was still rolling on the ground, trying to recover from the red laser assault, Finnick and Clawhauser immediately bolted out of the park. Just as they exited the gate, Honey's hands were already on the handle. The three employees of Wild Times closed the main gate, containing Nick inside.

From above, upon seeing the crowd of predators running toward the parked cars without their collars, Judy muttered to herself, "No, no, no, you are not supposed to do that." Judy looked away from the window crack. With her breathing under control, she dialed the ZPD.

* * *

It was awfully quiet within Alex's small quarters. He slowly opened his eyes and stared blearily into the burning light bulb mounted on the ceiling. His head may have felt like being in a blender loaded with razor blades, but his urge to 'get to work' forced him to stand up. His vision swam, tossing the room around him. He frantically searched for the chair in front his computer desk and sat down. After a moment to regain his equilibrium, he fished his phone out of his pocket and had a look. "Crap, it's 11:30 already? Well, guess that's what days off are for." He tapped on his phone, making a call. Alex opened his mouth halfway and adjusted his voice a little. "Hello, Mr. Douglas? Yeah, it's me, Mark Lago. I'm calling to- Yes, I am terribly sorry. I was- Okay, let's be honest here. I had an unexpected party yesterday and- Well, this is embarrassing," Alex rubbed the back of his head, "But, that's why I couldn't come to work today." He opened one of his drawers and took out a pill bottle. The cat swallowed one pill from it while the animal on the other line blabbed about what it was like to be young. "Oh, thank you for that sir." The sharp ache in the back of his head intensified for a second, then began to ebb away as the pill went to work. "Was there any trouble during my absence? No? Oh, good, that's a relief. Well, that is all sir. I wish you a good day and again, terribly sorry. I'll write my report and send it to you."

He hung up the phone and placed it on the desk. He rubbed his temples, waiting for his throbbing headache to fade. It was then Alex noticed how quiet everything around him was. He raised his head and cocked it, listening intently. It was almost noon on a weekend. The park should be crowded, shaking his room with the rumble of the Roar-a-Coaster and screams of delight. However, that day, it was as silent as a mouse's funeral. As soon as he felt he could walk straight again, Alex unlocked the door and stepped out.

He glanced around curiously. All the lights were on, which meant the park was open, but the main gate was closed. The lack of customers was rather odd. Alex's ear twitched as he heard something in the otherwise silent space. He followed the sound to Nick. Bizarrely, the fox was sharpening his claws on one of the palm tree cutouts. "Nick! What are you doing? You know we can barely afford to fix things without… you..." He trailed off as Nick pulled his claws from the plywood and sank to all fours. The fox turned to glare at the cat, his teeth pulled back in a vicious snarl

Hungover as he was, Alex did not know how to respond to that. He began to chatter nervously, "Why are you walking like that? Where the hell is everybody?" Nick gradually approached him. Alex could see and hear his claws leaving imprints on the concrete floor. Alex took a few steps back, slowly. "What in the flying hell are you doing?" Sweat started dripping down his back. Nick paused, locking his vision on the confused cat. With no warning, he rushed forward. Alex's fight or flight reflexes cranked to maximum efficiency. Adrenaline instantly fueled his muscles. The cat dropped to all fours and bolted toward his room. Nick pounced forward and Alex made a sharp turn, narrowly evaded the strike. Once Alex was back inside his quarters, he slammed the door shut and locked it. He then took cover beside the door.

Alex screamed out, feeling like the fist in his chest was trying to punch its way out of his chest. "Nick! Are you nuts?!" Nick responded with a growl and slammed against the door, visibly denting it. Alex jerked from the door with a school-girl shriek. "EEK! Ahaha! Okay, you got me. Very funny. A-class prank on the poor foreigner. Let's stop now, this is starting to scare the living crap out of me!" Alex babbled. He saw his trusty gym bag lying nearby. Without hesitation, the cat reached out and grabbed it. Another slam occurred. This time, it busted one of the hinges open. He quickly retreated to the corner. As Nick's incoherent growling continued, Alex unzipped the bag and took out his makeshift shock baton. The two Taser guns from before were now strapped to the area above the bat's handle. The wires and probes taken from the guns were connected to copper wires that wrapped around the middle section to the tip of the bat.

With two hands held tight to the handle and his back pinned to the wall, Alex shouted. "Nick, listen! Let's talk about this like civilized beings." He took a deep breath. "What the hell is up with you?" His only answer was another slam to the door. The two remaining hinges barely held on. "You got to stop this Nick, or I'll have to use force. I know fencing. I'm gonna parry and riposte the hell out of you." Alex twisted a little nub at the bottom of the bat. White electric sparks danced wildly on the copper. Nick popped the door right off its hinges. Forward momentum pushed the fox, along with the door, onto the floor with a loud bang. With a few precious milliseconds, Alex thrusted the weapon forward. The tip touched Nick's side and immediately stiffened the fox's muscles. Nick's jaws shut tight prevented him from uttering a sound. As soon as he could see the tail hair standing up, Alex disconnected the bat from Nick's body. The fox collapsed bonelessly on top of the ruined door.

Alex noticed how fast his heart was beating and how heavy he was breathing. He tried to slow it down with a few deep breaths. Those self-help books the old mayor gave him were finally put into use. Alex held tight to the bat and had a look at Nick. The fox continued to lie there, motionless. After a minute or so, Alex figured his friend was down for the count. "Huh. I guess I didn't need to read that book after all." Alex muttered to himself.

He dropped the bat and sat down, his hands gripping his temples. "Okay, okay. Let's all calm down and think this through. "He started to retrace his memories. "Maybe he ate something weird and went nuts. Yeah, totally logical explanation." He shook his head, "Nah, who am I kidding? That's not it." He had a thought. "Okay, come to think about it, this is not too bad. He will wake up and get over this like a bad hangover. I'll give him some fancy soup at that Italian place as an apology for tasing him. It was self-defence anyway, so he can't hold that against me. Then we will all get back to work. Yeah. It's not like someone would call the police."

Like a punchline to a cruel joke, the sound of police sirens began to invade the warehouse. Alex slapped himself in the forehead. "Spectacular Alex, you jinxed it." He frantically looked around his room. "Crap, crap, crap! What to do, what to do?" He snapped his fingers. "The safe, priority number one." Alex approached the most valuable item in his room. He started twisting the passcode into it. He pulled it open and took out a single gym bag. The gym bag had a tag that read, ' _In case I can no longer work, and everything goes to hell.'_ The cat opened it, revealing wads of cash inside. He closed the bag and dropped it on his desk. Then he quickly gathered all the smaller gadgets on the workbenches, including the fully restored flip phone from before, and shoved them all into his other gym bag. He unplugged his two laptops and put them in as well. Then, he took down all the pictures tacked on the wall.

There were only four of them. One photo captured Alex during his childhood along with seven other cats. All had white fur and were standing on a boat. They were pointing at a huge tuna hung on a hook. Young Alex looked rather happy in that. It was a far cry from the perpetual annoyed and exhausted expression he wore now. The next one was a picture of a teenage Alex on a hospital bed. He held a thumb up with no smile. Beside him was an x-ray of a cat with the majority of its tail missing. Next was him in a graduation gown, holding two certificates. Standing next to him was a pig with white hair. The last one was him with the Wild Times's crew, taken moments after the park's completion. He folded them all and shoved them into his backpack. When everything was fully packed up, he put on the backpack and hung the two gym bags on his shoulder. _This stuff gets heavier every time,_ he thought.

Alex reached down under his bed and pulled out a gasoline tank with _Evidence Destroyer_ scribble on the side. He began to pour the liquid on the computers but stopped abruptly. He remembered Nick was still lying on the broken door nearby. "Damn it!" He put the tank back on the floor. "Bah, they were bound to find out sooner or later." He walked to the left most corner of his room. With a swift kick, he opened a previously cut exit. "Don't worry Nick. I'll come back for you." He said before crawling out through the square hole. He ran as quickly as a cat carrying three bags through a field of tall grass could. He grumbled through his teeth the whole way. "My god, how did this happen? This was supposed to be like one of those feel-good movies. A big wig comes to try to shut us down. We do a quick montage. A liar, in this case me, is revealed. Everyone gets mad. I say a bunch of hippy bull crap. We hug andmake up. We do something outrageous and save the park. The bad guys reformed. Then everyone sings a stupid song and lives happily ever after. Why can't we have that?" He shook his head in frustration. "Now is not the time Alex. Remember, always be one step ahead." He paused. "Yeah, one step ahead."

* * *

Nick finally came to, the faint, acrid smell of gasoline burning his nostrils. He had this strange stinging pain on his side. A soft touch revealed no wounds or burns. He looked around with confusion, recognizing Alex's room. What was he doing here?

As he shakily pushed himself up; he noticed he had been lying on Alex's door. He winced as he shifted, his head throbbing painfully. When he was finally upright, he glanced around again. He saw the open safe and exposed exit. "What happened?" He whispered before stumbling out of the room and back to Wild Times. There he received another shock that drove his confusion higher. Instead of the expected Finnick, Honey, or Clawhauser, ZPD officers waited for him, all with tranquilizer guns trained on him. A water buffalo gruffly commanded him, "Put your hands in the air."

(The song I Hate to Tell You by Yuk Cheung Chun begins to play)

Nick was led outside of the mock clinic, his hands cuffed behind him. "No you don't understand! This is not what its looks like. Predators without- urgmm!" A sheep quickly muzzled him and pinned him against the clinic's wall. Nick could feel his shoulders straining, threatening to pop from their sockets. He was then dragged toward a nearby police cruiser. A few news reporters had ambushed them, nearly blinding the fox with their camera flashes.

When the officers finally got Nick into the cruiser, he looked out the window to see Wild Times being barricaded and wrapped with police tape as Judy stood in front of it all while looking back at him. Something about her blank expression sent a chill down his spine.

The water buffalo that had arrested Nick approached Judy. His name tag read ' _Bogo'._ "Who would have known? Just when everyone thought everything was under control, turns out the predators were running amok. Excellent work, Hopps. Because of you, we managed to contain a threat. The force had managed to capture all the escaped predators." He had a look at the disabled Wild Times sign. "Well, let's hope that ought to do it. Anyhow, congratulations. Looks like you have earned yourself a promotion. Lose the parking duty outfit. And if the press ever asks for an interview, tell them that you are a Lieutenant. That is an order."

Judy looked up at him, surprised and confused. She had been waiting for a promotion the past few months, but she did not expect to receive it like this. Something about it felt wrong. However, her training convinced her that orders are above all feelings. Naturally, she responded with "Sir, yes sir!" and a salute.

(Song ends)

* * *

A week later, in some random restaurant located in the first district.

"Congratulations, Judy." Her parents along with a dozen of her brothers and sisters said in unison. This small part of her family had taken six tables from this restaurant and was responsible for making most of the noise. Her father, sitting beside her, said. "We are so gosh darn proud."

Then her mother chimed in, "Can't say that I didn't have my doubts, but you pulled though. And that alone is amazing."

"A lieutenant in six months! You are on the up and up, Jude." Her father gave Judy a soft, encouraging punch.

Judy put up a smile. "Yeah. Thanks, guys."

While a dozen of her brothers and sisters were chatting and eating along with her parent, Judy's mind began to wander off to earlier that day.

* * *

"Good morning, Lieutenant Hopps." A lop-eared rabbit prison staffer greeted her. He had just finished delivering breakfast to all the inmates in Cellblock D. Among those inmates was Nick. She calmly strolled through the medium sized predator cells; all the prisoners looked at her with fire in their eyes. She turned to Nick's cell.

The wardens had taken his suit and replaced it with the standard orange prison uniform. Nick turned his back to her. His face stared dead at the collection of newspaper articles duct taped to the wall. They had headlines written in bold fonts, such as " **Predators on the Loose!** "; " **Another Predator Goes Savage, 5 Injured**."; " **Biological or Intentional?** "; " **Protest Turned Riot** ". Nick had marked red circles on some articles. One was, " **Scientists Blame Malfunctioning Collars**." In that article, Nick circled the quote, "All the predators that went savage have faulty collars." There was another article featuring Mayor Bellwether. Her quotes were circled all over.  "Mayor Bellwether: It breaks my heart to say this, but please, for your own safety and everyone else's safety, have a collar checkup."; "We are trying our best to figure out the cause."; "It is best not to fuel the chaos with all these unnecessary conflicts." At the center of all the articles was the article published the morning after Nick's arrest. The page featured the image of him, all muzzled up, but his teeth were showing. The picture caught the perfect moment when he appeared the most threatening.

Carefully maintaining her blank expression, Judy said, "Good morning, Nick."

Exhaustion was easy to hear in his reply. "Why are you here? What else could you take from me?"

She put her finger on her badge. "Take from you? What you did was against the law, Nick. As an officer, I have to enforce it. Let's not have this conversation again."

Nick sighed. "Fine. Again: Why are you here?"

"I'm here to help you, Nick. I had a talk with Chief Bogo. I can reduce your sentence, as long as you answer a few questions."

He looked down at the Bellwether article. "Help huh? Fire away, Lieutenant."

"Your associate, Bach Mieu. We need info on him."

Nice squinted his eyes in confusion. However, he caught on rather quick. "You mean Alex?" He looked up. "He helped me create the park, fixed machines and brought food to me from times to times. That's all I know."

She pointed her finger downward. "Nick, I'm serious. Mammals out there are being hurt because of him."

Nick glared at her accusingly. "How did you come up with that conclusion? I read the news. Everything is inconclusive so far."

"Then how else is it happening? This whole thing started right after his escape."

"I've told you I don't know. I don't know what makes predators or me savage. But I'm sure as hell it was not the collar turning off. A wolf invaded my office and drugged me. That's all I know. The kid and I bear no part in the attacks."

"You don't have to cover for him, Nick. He is a dangerous criminal. I'm just trying to help you. You have to cooperate."

Nick chuckled. "Dangerous criminal? Do you know this kid, like at all? He is a dork, a constant nervous wreck and has a weird relationship with theater. Does any of that scream a dangerous criminal to you?"

She crossed her arms. "Knowing someone personally is irrelevant to this, Nick. Their past actions determine who they are. The records, the profiles, the database, the facts, those are what is real. Personal connections just make it harder for you to see who they truly are." The pace of her voice slowed down. "They just make you appear vulnerable, weak and- and exploitable to them." She looked down for a brief moment but resumed her stern expression right after. "So, you refuse to give any information."

"Do I need to answer that?"

"I should have known better. Talking to you is a waste of time. Good day, Nick." She then left.

"Goodbye, Lieutenant Hopps."

* * *

Her mind then drifted back to a meeting that happened the day before.

Chief Bogo was at his usual position in front of a city map. That day, photos of various predators and documents were tacked onto it. At the center of it all, there was an old picture of Alex when the fur under his eyes was still full. The buffalo cleared his throat and said. "Our priority for today would be the same as yesterday: Stop the savage attacks." He then handed a stack of records to a hippo, who then distributed them to the officers. "However, there has been some new development. We have recovered data from the computers found at the crime scene." Bogo pointed at the picture of Alex. "We identified the suspect to be 20 year old Bach Mieu. He has ten other aliases, but let us stick with that."

An elephant said. "Bach Mieu? Isn't that Swinton's pet?"

Bogo responded, "Yes, he is the former Mayor's assistant."

A sheep then responded. "Yeah, that's him. I thought he returned to that backwater island of his ages ago."

A zebra said. "I always thought he offed himself." The force turned their attention to him. It was as if he had made a poorly timed joke. "Don't give me that look, it's a possibility."

The chief slammed his fist on the map. "Quiet! Regardless of who he was, that's not what's important. He is now our number one suspect. We stopped his little joy ride, so he decided to give us all a hard time. The attacks started almost one day after his escape."

The Chief pointed down. "Here is what I take from that, he knows how to unlock collars. As far as we know, predators without functioning collars always go savage. So, we capture this cat, the attacks will stop. A simple solution." There were whispering among the officers. Judy, on the other hand, was reading the profile given to her. Chief Bogo continued. "If anyone of you is intimidated by his two master degrees, here is an assuring piece of news."

The officers focused their attention to Bogo. "The computer at the crime scene revealed that the only hacks that he had done were simple credit frauds. Any two-bit hacker could do that. He didn't even have the guts to take more than 50 dollars in one account at once. Don't you worry. He is not going to bring down the force's computer system with a click of a button." He then continued while walking in between the rows of desks. "That doesn't mean he is not a threat. Remember, the only way to stop the attacks is to stop him. So, learn that face. He is a white cat in Zootopia. There are 200 cats or even less in this city so he should stick out like a sore thumb. Hopefully, that will make our job easier." He pointed to each mammal, Judy included. "All of you. Tighten the screening and searching process, plaster wanted posters everywhere and search every corner! Leave no stone unturned. Every minute this cat is outside breathing fresh air, another life is hurt. That is all, dismissed."

"Sir, yes sir!" The ZPD forced shouted.

* * *

Afterward, Judy did some research on her own regarding Alex. After a few minutes, she came across a video titled "MAYOR ASSISTANT'S SPEECH, THE ENDING WILL SHOCK YOU," written in all caps, of course. The video started with Alex, all dressed up in a black tuxedo, walking to a podium. On his neck was a shock collar, but it was covered in shining metal. The aesthetic made the object looked more like an accessory. The fur under his eyes was full. While the patches on top of his head was properly groomed. He was wearing a prosthetic tail, which made him appeared full. He silenced the applause by saying, "Thank you, thank you." The audiences stopped and granted him full attention.

He then glued malice onto his grin. "You know, I feel dirty just by standing here. I have literally become a greeting card story. Unknown kid from bum freaking nowhere fights tooth and claw to get into U. Z. Quickly becomes a top dog with a huge amount of effort. Then successfully become a piece of Zootopia history."

The grin faded to a grim line. "Such stories make me sick to my stomach." He glared at the audience. "I, sadly, did not come here because of any noble cause. I just wanted to prove that I could be more than what my environment made me. No, more than that. I wanted to reshape the world. Spit back at all the naysayers, punch them in the face and say: _you were WRONG, you pathetic cock mongrel! Now go make me a sandwich._ " The audience chattered excitedly. This was definitely not what they were expecting. He opened his arms, gesturing to everything around him. "And what better place to do that than in a city where anyone can become anything?"

He dropped his arms sullenly to the podium "How wrong I was. I shouldn't have been convinced by the posters and the fancy articles. Yes, I have changed, but not because I made those changes; rather, it was because my environment changed. I'm still not independent from my surroundings." He shook his head. "Worse, your city wants to turn me into an excuse, something to shut down arguments." He changed his voice into one of mockery. " _'Oh, you think predators' lives were rigged, and they could never be successful. Are you high? Have you seen Bach Mieu, the mayor's pet? He came from an island that I cannot even pronounce and look at him now. All dress up and covered in riches. Your life is crappy because you have not tried hard enough, just look at Bach Mieu. If he, a predator can make it, so can you. We are in Zootopia! Anyone can be anything!'_ "

He slammed his fist on the podium, "I will not be a pawn in your political games! Can you hear me, you mother-"

The rest of the video was nothing but beeping sounds and the security removing him from the scene.

* * *

A nudge on her shoulder sent Judy back to the real world. "Hey, Jude the Dude, what's wrong?" It was her father.

Her mind had the perfect answer for that. _Gee, I don't know dad. My secret childhood friend built an underground amusement park that breaks God only knows how many laws; his friend is supposedly this roaming criminal that causes predators around the city to go savage and the city is falling apart as a result. Oh, and I personally put my friend in jail. But at least I have this promotion, which may or may not be a means to shut me up about the meter maid thing. Oh, did I tell you that I was essentially a token bunny on the force and had to practice the least prestigious of all professions for six months? Good thing I hadn't, or this party would have been so different._

Her mouth said something else. "Nothing, dad. Just a little tired."

"That comes with the promotion, honey," Her dad said with a smile. "You'll get used to it, just like your mother and I get used to you being an officer in the big city."

Due to the demands from some of his customers, the restaurant manager decided to turn up the volume on the restaurant's TV. A moose news anchor delivered the troublesome news for that day. "This just in, there has been a prison breakout at the Zootopia Penitentiary. The-"

Judy did not need to hear the rest of that before getting out of her chair. "Sorry guys, I have to go, duty calls." Just as she about the exit the place, she shouted. "Save the cake for me! love you guys, bye!" She then sprinted straight toward the Zootopia Penitentiary.

* * *

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


	6. Chapter 6

Before we start: We are halfway there, thank you for joining along the way

Disclaimer:

The following is a fan-based fiction. Zootopia and its characters are owned by Disney. The songs I reference here belong to their respective artist as well.

* * *

(The song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz begins to play)

Chesterization proudly presents

A Zootopia fanfiction

 **Wild Times with Wilde: Renovation**

(Song ends)

 **Chapter 6: One Step Ahead?**

Earlier that day, inside Cell Block A of the Zootopia Penitentiary

This cellblock was reserved for larger inmates, such as elephants, tigers, lions, and many polar bears. The inmates languished in their cells, all waiting for the next time they were allowed out of their little cages. When a siren suddenly rang out, the inmates all stopped what they were doing and looked through the iron bars at the large reinforced steel door that blocked the only entrance. They waited, hoping to find out what was happening behind that slab of steel.

Then came the sound of fighting and tranquiliser darts being shot out. The siren quieted. The inmates collectively held their breaths, some nervous, others excited. After a moment of absolute silence, someone banged on the door, startling the more skittish prisoners. The metal door swung open, allowing the lop eared bunny prison staffer, the same one Judy had seen just a half an hour earlier, to step in. He was still wearing the blue prison staff uniform and his usual, worn bunny track shoes. On his face were a pair of glasses and a hospital mask. The only unusual thing about him was the tranquilizer handgun wedged onto his belt. A polar bear entered the cellblock after him, wearing a gas mask.

The bunny snapped his fingers and held his free hand out, demanding something from the large predator. The bear gave him two collar-unlocking devices. Compared to the one in Wild Times, these had been heavily modified. They had longer bodies and lenses that resembled gun barrels. These weren't held together by duct tape. Their sleek plastic bodies looked so well made that they could have been mass-produced. Hefting a scanner in each hand, the rabbit announced to the inmates, "Brothers, it is time to rise!"

He then nonchalantly strolled through the cells, aimed the devices at certain cells and pulled the trigger. He only picked those with predators in them. The devices let out a buzz after every trigger pull, releasing a coded signal that unlocked collar and cell door simultaneously. Except for the polar bears, the released inmates were general thought was, _Why would a_ _prey_ _do this for_ _them_ _?_

Noticing their doubt, the rabbit said, "No time for hesitation, my brothers; this opportunity won't last forever. Go!" The polar bear followed behind him, instructing the inmates to run through the door. Though still doubtful, the predators took the suggestion and ran outside of the cellblock. The moment they stepped into the main hall, they saw a riot stood in the way of their freedom. A few masked predators of different sizes (mostly polar bears) and the inmates were fighting back the security officers and wardens. Darts and punches were thrown in equal measure.

Once cellblock A was clear of predator inmates, the rabbit walked to the camera in the corner. He took off his mask, showing his cat nose and teeth. His fangs were shown even clearer the moment he grabbed onto his scalp and forcefully yanked it out. Like a scene from a horror movie, parts of his scalp came right off, dragging the pair of floppy ears with it. However, underneath the removed scalp were not blood and flesh, but rather white fur and a pair of cat ears that were stuck tight to the real scalp. The cat ripped the combination of fake fur and latex out completely and tossed it on the floor. Alex looked straight at the camera. "Let this be a lesson to you all." He pointed one of his devices at the camera. "Never, ever corner predators: for we will fight back with all of our might. If you see us as nothing but beasts," He grinned like a malevolent antagonist from a cheap action movie, "then beasts we shall be." He then tossed one of the scanners straight at the camera, destroying both. He then turned around and told the polar bear. "Go help them. I can take care of myself."

The bear left without so much as a nod. Once alone, Alex pulled out his phone. He glanced around at the nearest cells, asking the prey inmates, "On a scale of 1 to 10, what was the ham level of that performance?" The inmates just looked at him confusedly. "I personally think it deserves an eight, at least." He turned to his phone and opened the checklist app. "Okay, let's see what else is on the list. Spam request, check; Riot, check; Mind screwing, check; Send Koslov's message, check; Give the greatest performance of all since Ham-let, check, please. Yup, all the distractions are in place, time to close the curtain and get the hell out." He bowed, "See ya, no hard feelings right?" he told the remaining inmates with a smile.

He took off his stolen track shoes before exited the door. The riot was still going on outside, but that did not concern him. He turned to a vent nearby and opened it with a screwdriver on his belt. He did so while humming a tunelessly. The cat crawled into the vent and worked his way out. In the heat of everything, he forgot to take off his fake rabbit tail.

* * *

Around 8 PM, Judy, Chief Bogo, and some ZPD officers were in the surveillance room of the Zootopia Penitentiary. They had just witnessed the few seconds before the camera in Cell Block A was smashed.

Chief Bogo looked at Chief Warden Douglas. "How did this happen?" It was a question, but it sounded like an accusation.

In a gruff voice, Douglas answered, "I've asked myself the same damn question the last few hours. Who would have seen this coming? The little grunt has been working for us for nearly a year. His paperwork checks out, or at least it is very well forged. He shows up on time, never leaves early. Only takes off days for good reasons." The Chief Warden shook his head as he pieced everything together. "With the work of a prison staff being undesirable; a prey that willing to work the early shifts as a staff, a cook and even a mechanic from time to time was a godsend." Douglas pointed upward. "You don't deny godsends. He'll be pissed if you do. Mark's not exactly a goody two-shoes, but always polite and pleasant."

Chief Bogo said, "You should have been more careful."

The other Chief slammed his desk. "Don't give me that attitude Bogo! I have been doing this since before you learned how to spell your name." He straightened his uniform. "Of course, I had my doubts. All the wardens had their eyes on him for 3 months, but he didn't do anything suspicious. He never made conversation or even made contact with any inmate during his time working here. He doesn't abuse substances. Hell, he is so much of a weak sauce that he couldn't drink alcohol. Well, except last week, but who cares? Bottom line: I have not seen anyone, I mean _anyone_ , work for so long in such a crappy job just to prepare something like this. And I have seen railroad tracks built under prisons cells in my time."

Chief Bogo said, "Why did you allow him to wear a mask?"

"His profile stated that he had a cleft lip. He even has picture and doctors' reports to show for it. Here." He gave Chief Bogo a picture of Mark Lago with the malformation. Alex's half a day effort with the computer paid off, as Bogo felt uneasy at how real it looked. Bogo then passed on the image to the other officers in the room.

"Ugh," was all Judy could utter at the sight of it.

Douglas pointed at her and looked at Bogo. "See? That's why I allow him to wear that. Spare the nightmare fuel for lots of folks."

"Still, you hired him." The buffalo continued, arms crossed.

"I know, I know. I'll take my god damn responsibility, okay? Hop off my nuts already. Complain and criticize all you want, I ain't seeing you do any better. The wardens and I had to hold them off by ourselves. 67 escaped, but that could have been zero if the ZPD had helped."

An elephant officer had an answer to that. "About that, sir. Our system was under attack from an influx of automated request messages transmitted from all parts of the city. He spammed our system with so many random and incoherent recordings marked as requests for help along with false emergency signals that it was impossible for us to distinguish your call from them."

Douglas paused and widened his eyes. "Holy shit, you completely lost me at the influx part. But, heh, sound like we all underestimated this cat. Right, Bogo my boy?" Douglas gave the chief a grin before standing up. He moved to one of the the work stations in the corner. "Now, if would you excuse me, I have to write some reports. Lucky that nobody died from this so I can at least drink in peace tonight." Douglas turned on a computer and started typing.

Conversations between the officers began to break out. A horse said, "Now finding him is gonna be even more of a pain. What if he can just disguise himself as any prey?"

The hippo beside Bogo said, "What should we do now, Chief? Frisk everybody?"

Chief Bogo said. "We need to round up the escapees first. With this many chompers without collars, there is no telling how many savage attacks might happen."

Douglas then yelled, "WOULD YOU ALL PISS OFF? MY DAY IS BAD ENOUGH WITHOUT YOU HERE. GET OUT!"

Afterward, Chief Bogo and the ZPD contacted the prison file clerk. He provided a list of the inmates that were found missing from their cells. When the escapees were being divvied up between the officers, Judy instantly volunteered to track Nick Wilde when she saw his name. With all of his other officers taking care of larger and more dangerous predators, Bogo allowed her to take on someone _'close to her size.'_ Judy then stayed in the prison while her other colleagues left, either to go home or start on their cases. She talked to the rhino warden in charge of Cell Block D. "I want to check on Wilde's cell." The warden agreed and personally led her to the cell. Nick's cell was exactly how he left it. The door was still open, no sign of forced entry or exit. The warden then stood outside of the cell. His eyes were watchful of the other cells, which still had the same number of inmates as the day before.

Judy walked around the glass cell, carefully observing every item. She checked under Nick's pillow, nothing. She checked under the bed, nothing. The toilet tank, she noticed that it had been opened recently. She lifted it up; there were traces of prison food floating on the water. That made her curious, but it didn't tell her anything. She then looked at his wall. The newspaper with Nick's face on the front page had disappeared. Her curiosity grew as she starting to peel the duct tape off of one of the other news articles. She flipped it over. It was then she found out scribbles behind them. Her eyes widened as she realized that they were not random notes. They were instructions! She read the message scribbled on the scrap of newspaper.

' _21_ _st_ _July is the day. Once you hear the siren, wait for the guards to leave. Use the universal key card to get yourself out. Don't worry about your block mates; they will only slow you down.'_

She ripped another news article out. She found another message.

' _Use the screwdriver to open the vent nearby and crawl inside. Follow the ventilation map I gave you a few day ago. If you don't screw up, you'll get to the courtyard.'_

She ripped another one down.

' _It's not over yet. Go to the woods nearby and find my old gym bag. Inside are clothes, camping supplies, keys and a gift. You probably have to spend some time outside so find a good hiding spot. It's nice that ZPD doesn't hire predators, or else this would have been more difficult. Afterward, get to the address written on the ventilation map. Don't use taxis or public transits. Walk and try your best to avoid the fuzz. Just because they are focusing on bigger threats and me, doesn't mean you don't have to be careful.'_

Another one read, _'You are taking a different path from the riot. Once the door is open and the coast is clear, turn right, you will see a vent. I probably have placed a machine screwdriver in the trash can for you. It is in a box of donuts.'_

Another piece of newspaper had instructions on how to assemble a universal key card. She had a look at the cell door, the lock was just a magnetic scanner; it did not require swiping. As long as one had the right signal and placed it near the scanner, the door would make way. There were a few notes written on the instruction sheet as well.

' _These parts are waterproof, so feel free to wash off the food that got stuck on them, but keep them dry when you assemble them. I have checked the warden schedules, no surprise contraband check this week, so just hide it under your pillow or something._ '

It boggled her mind that someone who was not bold enough to pull a 100 dollars credit fraud could create something like this. She read the back of the final article.

' _Once in the courtyard, go to the bushes next to the big transformer, it should provide you with some cover. Go to the back of the transformer and feel the cinder block floor there. Two of them should come loose. Take them out. Below is a tunnel I have dug. Go through it and you are free.'_

Upon finishing it, Judy dropped the articles on the bed. Then she raised her head so she could avoid looking at ' _Alex's Guide to Escaping Prison'_. _How long has Nick been involved in this?,_ she wondered. Then shen remembered the masked predators that showed up during the breakout. Bach Mieu let them in and helped them. _Just how big was all this?_ It seemed the world around her was getting more and more chaotic each day. With a shake of her head, Judy started bagging the newspaper articles for evidence. The Chief Warden would want to look at them.

And look at them he did. "Son of a bitch!" He shouted and slammed his fists on the table. Then he chuckled darkly. "Oh, kid, you have just earned yourself a spot in solitary confinement." He put his computer to sleep and reached for a drawer under the director's desk. He pulled out a notebook and started writing down something. "Lesson learned." He said while scribbling.

Judy then leaned forward. With hesitation, she said, "Sir, can I make a request?"

He pointed his pen at her, "Depends."

"Can I have a copy of Mark Lago's profile?"

"Why would you need them," his eyes dropped to her nametag, "Hopps? They are useless anyway."

She tilted her head rather innocently. "Hum. Maybe, but it wouldn't hurt to try."

He stared at her for second, then shrugged. "Okay." He opened another drawer and fished out the document she needed. "Take this and leave. It's getting late."

She nodded then saluted the Chief. "Will do, sir."

She slowly exited the room while her eyes scanned through the boxes of text. She came across something that made her smile smugly. _Recently moved, huh? If he really is as good a boy as Mark, reporting this is something any law abiding citizen should do._ It was nearly nine when Judy exited the prison, but she did not want to go home. How could she sleep when a possible lead had been discovered? She immediately went to the address listed as Mark's new place.

* * *

It led to a rundown apartment building, quite similar to hers. She knocked on the door, hoping to gain access.

An old doe opened it and asked. "You're looking for someone, dear?"

Judy smiled, "Um, yes, I'm Nick Wilde. Mark Lago's friend. He told me to come here." Lying to an old lady. This was a new low for her. In the back of her head, she was expecting a rejection, so that she could stop right there and leave.

But alas, the old lady said, "Oh, yes, I remember. Though, I was expecting a boy."

"It's short for Nikoletta. A lot of animals get confused. I think my parents hate me sometimes."

"Oh, I see. Don't think that way dear. They just tried to get with the times with the weird names. Well, did Mark give you the key?"

Judy's hand rubbed the back of her head. "He forgot."

The doe shook her head. "Kids these days, so forgetful. Here, I have been waiting to give you this all night." Her trembling hand dropped the key on Hopps's hand.

The rabbit was taken aback. "Really?"

"No, it's just something I say to scare others. I was just enjoying my evening with some tea. Anyhow, come in. It's getting late. A bunny like you should not stand too long in the street at night."

She nodded before entering, "Thank you, ma'am."

The doe then led the way to the apartments upstairs. She found room 203 and told Judy. "This is it."

Judy bowed and said, "Thank you so much for your time."

The doe said a cheery grandma smile drew across her face. "It's all right. You should get some sleep, the boy won't return until noon."

Judy thought, _Something tells me that he won't return, period._

Judy stepped in. This apartment was only a little smaller than hers. It had all the basic needs: bed, fridge, microwave, and a desk. Next to the door was an end table with a letter. She turned on the light and read it. "Hello Nick, welcome to the rest stop. Sorry, I could not be there. With the city most likely be on my no-longer-existing-tail, it is better for me to disappear for a while. Anyhow, take whatever you need and have all the rest that you can. When the coast is clear, go to Honey's safe house. Don't worry. I'll get you all out of this mess." Judy then recalled the three predators within Wild times. She also vaguely remembered not seeing their faces in prison.

She then inspected the place. Under the pillow was a first-aid kit; the fridge was stocked with prepackaged food, predators exclusive. On the desk was a neatly placed collar-unlocking scanner and a T.A.M.E. collar with a post-it note. Judy picked up the collar and read the attached message. _'This is a mock collar. Its light may be on, but it won't hurt you. You will probably need to run a lot, so use this unlocking device for distractions.'_ Judy put the scanner and the collar into her evidence bag. She then put both in the trash can and covered it with a box of pizza.

She started to think about ways to ambush Nick. Her first thought was hide outside, wait for Nick to come in the room and then find some way to lock him in. Afterward, she came up with ten other ways. However, all scenarios had Nick stay away from that collar-unlocking device. Judy sat on the chair in front of the desk. Her arms crossed and her feet were constantly tapping the floor. She needed to come up with the best possible plan to tackle this.

Judy was so focused on her planning that she barely noticed herself nodding off.

* * *

Early morning sunlight was streaming in through the window when Judy jerked awake, her head jumping up from where it had laid on her crossed arms. Disoriented, she was half way through wondering where she was when her sensitive ears radared toward the sound of a twisting key. Her eyes followed to the door, where she saw the knob turning.

It all came rushing back to her. What plan of attack did she pick again? Judy did not remember. Nick stepped in. He was wearing a white trench coat, black slacks, and a wide brim fedora. The exhausted Nick took off the hat and threw it on the end table. He looked to the right, and found Judy still sitting on the chair. They stared at each other for a second, wearing mirroring expressions of surprised disbelief.

(The song Chaser from Paprika OST begins to play)

Nick bolted from the room and headed downstairs. He had been running for so long that the shock from his collar did not bother him anymore.

Judy jumped from the chair while shouting, "Nick, stop right there!"

Nick opened the front door and jumped over the stairs to the pavement. He ran straight across the street, easily ducking through the light sunday morning traffic.

Judy exited the apartment the moment Nick was on the other side. Spotting Nick's black tipped ears, she took off after him.

Nick ran for a while. Looking around for an escape route, he spotted the familiar high fence of Little Rodentia. Deciding that staying on the street was too risky, he climbed the bars as quickly as he could. Once over the fence, he jumped down, careful to avoid the terrified mice. He then quickly walked his way toward a collection of mice-sized apartments; he needed to go high to avoid possible charges of mouse-slaughter.

Judy, back on Main Street, spotted the fox through the bars of the fence. She did not bother with climbing, or even jumping, the fence. Instead, she went for a sprint then slid right through the main entrance of Little Rodentia. Popping back to her feet, she shouted, "Nick, stop resisting arrest!"

Instead of replying, Nick just straight up climbed on one of the apartment buildings. He started hopping from one to the next. As he did so, the buildings started to topple, like giant blocks of Domino. _Do mice not know the concept of foundations?,_ he shouted in his head. Fortunately, before any of the small buildings could hit the ground, Judy was there, ready to catch last one. With Judy busy, Nick had the chance to increase the distance. He saw the Rodentia morning subway train and decided to hitch a ride. He jumped on one of the train cars and casually sat down on the roof. He looked at the passengers down below and inside the train. "Beautiful Sunday, isn't it?" He relaxed there, occasionally ducking his head to avoid overhead tubes. Glancing to the left, he watched as Rodentia Main Street glided towards him. As it did, Nick bid the passengers adieu and dropped down, landing with his feet planted right on the center of the tiny four lane road. With the wide-open street and most of the residents having fled to other parts of town, Nick ran straight for the exit.

When the West Entrance was only a few steps away, Judy emerged from the side of a crossroad. She tackled Nick to the ground. The two tumbled to the ground for a bit. They stopped when Nick lied face down on the ground. Just as he was about to raise his head up, Judy pinned it down, while her other hand handcuffed him. "Nicholas Wilde, you are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent."

(Song ends)

With Judy kneeling on his back, he struggled to cry out, "Listen, Judy, just this once, please. Please help me."

"I can't Nick. You know damn well I can't. " She said while keeping the pressure on him. The restraining technique learned from the Academy was doing its work.

As she was about to resume stating his rights, Nick said, "No, I'll turn myself in. I admit what I did with the park was wrong. But I had nothing to do with the attack last week."

 _Not this again!_ Judy thought.

"I was framed. You are an enforcer of justice, then how can you let such injustice happen? Do I not deserve your help because I'm a fox? " That line grabbed her attention. "Judy please, the real culprits of the savage attacks are out there, somewhere. And everyone is getting hurt because of them. It's not prey or predators, it's everyone. If you won't do it for me, then do it for them."

Judy grit her teeth while her mind played back the protocols, rules, and definitions learned from the Academy. They always calm her down, giving her some form of certainty and control. _'An arrest is the act of depriving someone of his or her liberty, usually in relation to an investigation or prevention of a crime.'_ She was not taking away her friend's freedom; she was just following orders. And scratch the friend part, he was a criminal, nothing more, nothing less; the Chief said so. A criminal who may have some distant connection to all of the strife that was going on. She had the cause, the badge, and the power. She was just doing what was right, right?

She looked to the side so she wouldn't have to look at Nick. Her gaze caught on the glass door of some rodent's shop. The reflection of her pinning Nick to the ground stared back at her. The scars on her cheek stung again. This time, though, she felt the cut run much deeper inside. _Do you truly believe them?,_ She asked herself.

After some thought, she sighed, "Fine, I'll help you solve this case." She hopped off his back, giving him to chance to stand up.

"Thank you, Judy. Thank you," Nick said, with the enthusiasm of a homeless mammal receiving kindness from a priest.

She unlocked the cuff on Nick's right hand. "But you must be by my side at all times." She instantly locked the cuff onto her left wrist.

Nick looked at the chain tether between them. He tilted his head, "Heh, you think that I cannot drag you around with this?"

She pulled her hand down, dragging Nick down until they were face to face. Before he could react, Judy punched him across the jaw. Her fist might be smaller than Alex's, but the strike was significantly stronger. The blow knocked him to the ground. The area of impact was numb for a solid two seconds. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much." She said while dusting herself.

The pain finally kicked in, and Nick curled into a ball on the ground. "Ugh, god! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Her ears drooped down and her hand covered her mouth "Oh, I'm so sorry! I was just trying to prove a point."

"By punching me in the face?!" He demanded, glaring up at her with his hand still on the cheek.

She kneeled down, trying to help him up. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

The two of them returned to the safe house. Judy was rubbing some cream into the fur on Nick's face to reduce the swelling from her her punch.

Nick said, "You don't have to do any of this, you know."

"Shush you. I caused it, I'll fix it."

Nick tried changing the subject while waiting for Judy to finish, "You managed to get here before me. That's quite a feat."

She shrugged. "Well, you know, that's what officers do."

He chuckled, "Heh, yeah right. Still, can't believe that they let you be a meter maid for that long. Imagine how many cases would have been done with you around."

Her cheeks heated up at the compliment. "Thanks. That's really flattering."

"No I'm serious. I'm not sucking up so that you would give me an easier time." He made a face, after a quick replay of that line in his head. "That came out horribly wrong."

Judy smirked, "Heh, still, I'll take previous the complement. Can't say that they don't have good reasons to do so. I mean, just look at me. I'm way too small to be any of use to the force. They originally took me in as a mean to 'level the playing field' and shut the mayor up. She really wants to help us little guys." She dipped the cotton with some more oil. "And now, well, they just want it as a cover up for treating me as a meter maid all that time. They let me to take your case because you are close to my size and not as dangerous as bigger predators." Her hand movement got slower. "Dad always said: 'Carrots are just carrots.' No matter what kind of dirt you use, or how hard you tend it, it won't turn into a potato."

"Judy, don't. I know we haven't talked for fifteen years, but that doesn't sound like you at all. Sure, it's not like the bumper sticker. You can't be _anything_ , but how do you know what you can and can't do when you haven't even tried?" He looked straight into her eyes. "And I saw you try and succeed." The line made her ears perk up. "I'd like to see your rhino colleague chase after me in Little Rodentia. I'm pretty sure he is going to cause more mouse-slaughter than I ever could. And I could have gotten away with it." He changed his tone in the last sentence. "Don't beat yourself up. You climbed the elephant sized ladder from the bottom to the top, you deserve some recognition."

Judy chuckled. "Recognition coming from a criminal. Don't know if that's ironic or not."

"Eh, take it any way you want. Also, Carrots, are you sure you use enough cream? My face is getting heavy."

Remembered what she was doing, Judy tried to maintain her composure. She brushed his face some more, "Almost. There, feeling better?"

Nick rubbed the side of his jaw, "My pride still hurts, but thanks anyway."

"Don't mention it."

Judy had a look at her phone. They had wasted enough time. It was better to get back to the case. She took out the letter Alex left behind and handed it back to Nick. "Oh, your friend left this note behind. Sorry, I read it for investigation purposes."

"Nah, it's fine." He scanned through the letter. "It's nothing too special anyway. Sorry, not today, Alex." He balled the letter and tossed it in the trash. Her heart sank at the moment. She hoped he had not seen the devices. To avoid suspicion, she faked a, "Huh?"

"I'm pretty sure he wanted to get the gang and me out of this mess. The gang can leave if they want, but I won't. I promised to turn myself in when we unmask the culprit, and that's that."

Judy's hands move to her hips. "You know, never have I seen criminal so enthusiastic about not getting away."

"Then I shall gladly be your first." He bowed.

"Oh, Nick. This is not the time." She rubbed her forehead.

Nick snapped his fingers, "Okay, serious face." He cleared his throat. "So, do you have any lead on the matter?"

She shrugged, "Not much beside somehow an engineer is responsible for a series of attacks that ties to biology. And somehow, someway, without collars, predators can't control themselves." She tilted her head. "To be honest, now with me saying it aloud, I'm not buying any of that. But Chief Bogo says it's true then mammals will believe him."

"Heh, and now because of me, the kid is a terrorist to everyone. I saw the news. Didn't think he had the guts and the stupidity to pull a stunt like that."

"How did he do that, though? Planning ahead an elaborate escape plan and accompanied him were dozens of bigger and armed predators. Where did he get them? Are you sure that he is not some kind of underground crime lord?"

Tha rang a bell in Nick's head. "I'm sure that he is not, but I think I have an idea who is. Judy, I think it is about time you meet Wild Times main backer."

* * *

Author note:

Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed what you have just read and wished to see more, please follow or leave a review. They would give me the motivation to write more for everyone. All feedbacks will be appreciated. If you find anything lacking or flawed in my story (grammar, word use, etc.), please tell me in the reviews as well. I shall do my best to update these chapters sooner and make them more polished. This is one of my first stories so please forgive possible mistakes in the future and help me fix them.

Thanks again and have a pleasant day.


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